Senseless Reckoning
by Ouchimoo
Summary: Sam has returned to college and a strange transformer shows up and causes havoc to the autobots' moral as they struggle with being protectors of a world who views them as anything but.
1. Plight of the Bumblebee

_*Redundant disclaimer* There are so many people who own the rights to Transformers currently. Hasbro obviously, Bay, IDW, etc etc etc. Anyways Transformers belong to them and not me. My references are Transformers, TF Prime Directive, TF Reign of Starscream, TF ROTF, TF Alliance, TF Defiance, TF Tales of The Fallen as well as a lot of other fabulous TF fan fictions on this site and tons and tons of Wiki reading. Seriously, when I get fandom for something, I get a little excessive._

_*Whoot, IDW came out with another movie edition comic book: Tales of the Fallen. There was two cover types to choose from. One was really well designed, but girly looking and the other was just a artist pin up drawing. very blah. I chose girly Ugg. It was designed so it looked pretty though. And Sam looks like Ben 10 or something. But. I like it. Anyways, my only downer about it is they suggest that Bumblebee is impulsive, which seems to stem from way back in the day when they originally were going to have Hot Rod be in Bee's spot. I'm so glad they didn't make him Hot Rod, but it might suggest that Bee may have a merged personality thing going on. I hope not. I donno, I'm prob reading in too much on how it was worded._

_Note, I finally figured out how the page breaks work. In the past when I tried editing on FF it made my file unpublishable. Not sure if it was me doing something wrong or if they made an update I missed out on, but now I finally get to make those page breaks like I wanted. *Note I'm keeping my original notes in place. So you get to see my PB rants XD. _

* * *

**CH 1**

**Plight of the Bumblebee**

The sun was brightly gleaming through the early sky and the temperature was already hot and humid. That wasn't unusual. Cars were tightly stalled side by side by side over a busy bridge as they hummed their impatience. That wasn't unusual either. What was unusual was that there wasn't anything to prevent the cars from leaving, other than human curiosity that is. People had stepped out and crowded to the asphalt and nearly everyone of them had a cellphone in hand. Some punched in numbers with desperation. Their efforts were rewarded with busy signals or warnings from electronic voices that lines were busy. Others punched away with their thumbs and fingers writing up messages that when sent, would lock up their phones until a message alerted them. 'Message could not be delivered, try again?' The remainder of people held up their phones high in hopes that their camera would catch something soon.

Even though the engines were relatively quiet, noise bustled through the vehicles. Radios were chattering about a catastrophe on the bridge. Ticking of helicopters hung in the air over head that circled like vultures over a section of bridge. The curious people wanted to know what was out there but it was just beyond their sight. For the best really.

Behind them came the sound of a revving engine and a car alarm. It wasn't enough to alert their attention. Then a loud blasted horn and an unearthly scream ejecting from a radio shattered the air. It jolted the people to turn in confusion. Then they only had a second to react, which was barely enough time to throw themselves to the ground as a blur of yellow metal flew by. Blowing by them was a yellow Chevy Camaro that had hoisted itself up on two wheels, allowing it just enough room to squeeze by the parked cars.

Some how the media had already responded. Lucky chance really, depending on what news crew you were from. One news crew was scattered over the road surrounded by the destroyed vehicles and concrete. Seeing first hand the collateral damage and bodies the sandy haired reporter dropped to his knees. The cameras were set on him, but he was too distraught to compose himself. Another media crew was not as unlucky to get trapped inside the chaos but alas, had not been lucky enough to see the scene. Stranded behind a chain link fence they could only report from afar. The luckiest crew managed to get a chopper in the air. They just now reached the ground zero of the destruction. On the helicopter's side large red letters announced Channel 12 News Skycam.

"We are now over the area and what you are seeing looks to be a giant robot!" The camera swerved to a large gray robot that was in the center of the wide bridge. Around it, the traffic jam had been converted into a junk yard. "The alien robot arrived less than 10 minutes ago and you can already see how much damage and destruction it unleashed on the downtown bridge." A woman's voice was reporting.

Back on the ground was the sandy haired reporter. "I'm sorry," he sobbed with a hand over his mouth, "but, this is just a lot to take in. Fire, police and ambulance, they are all helpless to do anything against this assault. There isn't really anything anybody can-"

"Where is the military when we need them!" He was cut off by a woman's scowling cry who was sprawled out near him.

That was a good question. There was an air base not twenty miles away. Jets would have easily been here by now. The real question is what are they waiting for?

"What is that? Frank look at this! There's another vehicle weaving through traffic to get to the scene!" The camera on the helicopter jerked and jolted to get a better view. A small yellow car with black stripes down it's front was racing in between the scattered cars. It avoided the police officers who helplessly tried to wave it down.

"You don't think it's another one do you?" A loud scraping shriek snapped their attention back to the giant gray robot. "Oh god! It's going after a bus full of children!"

Suddenly the scraping noise, a slow sound of a helicopter blade ticking, and a bus full of screaming children could have just as well been the only sounds on Earth. Visually, everything went monochromatic except for the yellow school bus that was now being dragged into the clearing of the bridge. The ticking sound faded from the adrenaline pumped senses and the screams grew louder. It didn't register with the two that the screams were imagined or even coming out of their own mouths because in reality, they should have been too far to hear them. Yet the bus and the robot were the only things that flooded their senses. Even the bright yellow Camaro that launched itself from an over turned car and was now flying through the air, was dull and nonexistent as far as the chopper crew was concerned. Simultaneously the robot raised it's arm aligning up with the center of the bus. The arm rotated and configured itself into a cannon. The mechanisms glowed and spun; swirling faster the energy blighted with intensity. Then just as plasma shot forward from its barrel, a partially converted Camaro robot rolled into the arm and pulled it just off course. The large robot stumbled in surprise as Bumblebee rolled to his feet on the ground below.

Bee shot a glance at the bus. The blast hadn't completely cleared. It ticked off the bus's back corner sending it whirling towards the concrete barrier. It broke through spilling concrete into the air. It wasn't enough to stop the vehicle. The bus's rear flung over the edge and the chassis dropped and screeched into the pavement slowing it to a stop. There it teetered over the abyss of dark unforgiving waters below. Bumblebee snapped back at the giant robot who towered over him. He launched three charges into the Decepticon as he ran to keep himself from being an easy target. The charges connected solidly. Even so, the Decepticon turned without even a flinch and returned a single charge. Bee skipped out of the way as the blast left a large crater.

"Oh man, It looks like David verses Goliath down there." Frank called out from behind the camera.

"I don't think David has a big enough rock." She pulled the chopper back to get a better view of the bus. It rocked as the bridge shook below it. Two men were weaving their way through the crushed cars, as the robots kept themselves busy, they were going to take a chance and rescue the children.

_Busy_was the only thing Bumblebee could do. He now knew he had no chance of taking the gigantic Decepticon down. He would have to bide time for Optimus and the others to catch up. He could only hope they would get there before it was too late. Bee rolled out of being crushed from a heavy foot. He ran forward and banked off of the back of the Decepticon's lower leg. He clasped a piece of armor that protruded out of the shoulder and leaned in blasting his cannon point blank at the Decepticon's face. He curled his legs up for a brace and tossed himself into the air and vaulted over his foes head. All the while launching more blasts into it's body. Bee landed hard and his optics flashed with fright when he realized he miscalculated the Decepticon's speed. He was knocked back, tumbling across the concrete. The Decepticon growled with frustration and was now determined to turn the tables. He ran up to the Autobot and connected his feet down five inches into the concrete. Bee tumbled. The bridge shook and a chorus of screams erupted from the bus. The shaking caused it to slip farther past the bridge's edge. Under his battle visor Bee's optics scanned the bus. A small twinge of relief arose when he saw the two men pulling out children. More men and women rushed to the children to lead them to safety.

'I just need to buy more time!' Bee thought. Before he could turn to react a large hand grabbed him. _Bumblebee let himself be distracted too long!_ He felt his body fly through the air then compact with the ground. Before he could recoil a large foot landed on top of him. He could feel his armor slowly cracking as he struggled from underneath. Bumblebee leveled his cannon. The Decepticon growled, having enough with getting pelted, relinquished his foothold and reached down to grab Bee's cannon arm. A yellow shot blasted out completely off target. A police chopper swerved as the energy rocketed too close for comfort. The large gray snarled and pulled the Autobot to his feet and spun him pinning his arm awkwardly behind him. Bumblebee whirred his gears as his optics widened with in the nanosecond of realization of what his foe was up to. He jerked and tried twisting his body free. As he did that the vice grip strengthened and a sharp pain of pressure tore across his sensors. Bee's vocals shrieked, then screamed as his arm was ripped off his body. He staggered a few steps as his remaining arm grasped at his sudden wound. As soon as he semi-caught his balance the stories tall creature pounded Bee across the head with his own arm. Bumblebee dropped to his knees and elbow. A flow of fluids seeped out and blotted the ground with a strange color liquid as his sensors ached for a connection. Bee fought back the pain as he whined his vocal processor. A high pitched scream pierced his audio receptors. He grimaced and picked his head up to see a young female child screaming and a man trying to hold her quiet. First reaction was horror, then anger, 'Don't just stand there!' He screamed in his head. Quickly he pulled an audio clip from his memory banks and screamed it over the radio,

#Fly you fools!#

He tore himself from the ground with determination. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted any longer. It reached for him, Bee skidded to the left. Bee jumped, twisted, jumped, grabbed and jabbed down with his feet trying to pry something loose. It didn't work. He leap back as a hand tried to assail him. He turned and opened up his shoulders to launch his missiles. The hand caught up. Bee was pinned and worse his launcher was obstructed by metal fingers. If he launched he'd risk, no, guarantee a back blast. Optics darted around quickly trying to make heads out of the situation. The hand grasped around tighter around his body. His launcher was plugged, his cannon was laying on the ground elsewhere and his remaining hand clawed frantically for a grasp. Finding none he lifted his arm and flicked out a new configuration of metal. A blue orb of energy bulbed at the end. It launched upwards and electricity arced to different paths on the metal. The blue light bounced up and breached the face before fizzling out. The creature howled as welts of melted pools steamed at the effect. Bee mused pathetically. His weapon at hand was a slagging tool. Used way back in the days long before he was a soldier, before he was a peace officer out arresting a so-called traitor, even before that when he was called to a make-shift guard duty as the others went out to an excavation site. It was a lowly arc wielder used to make repairs back when he was just a technician. _At least it stung!_

"Do you not get it!" The creature howled in Cybertronian. Even though the language was un-organic, the voice was dripping with organic frustration. He reached down with the other hand and crippled the device. He then picked the yellow Autobot up. Most of the weight of the metallic body slumped onto the neck that was pinched by metal joints. Bumblebee winced under the now thrice broken vocal processor.

"You can't beat me! Why do you keep trying!" He screamed into Bee's processors. Without flinching Bee unleashed the missiles. All of them. Directed right to the Decepticon's face. He screamed again and dropped Bee to the ground. Finally, after all it's prior attempts, a stomp attack solidly connected. Bee's voice box slurred again as he huddled himself on the ground. Meanwhile he heard the large robot stomp hardily on the ground around him. Bee couldn't pay any attention to him now. All his focus was trying to brace his broken body up for more punishment. He slowly attempted to pick himself up.

"That's all of them! Run! Get out of here now!" A male human voice broke the clatter. The towering Decepticon stopped his pacing and glared at the humans. Hot air cycled out of it's vents then his optics narrowed back to the Autobot's position. Bumblebee had his optics fixed on the fleeing humans. The Decepticon above him growled. Stepping towards Bee he landed a kick. It was a painful blow but not enough to sail him across the bridge.

"Is that it?" The Decepticon fashioned. He picked up Bumblebee by the leg and tossed him into an onslaught of piled vehicles, towards the direction of survivors and emergency personnel. Bee skidded across the piles of torn and twisted metal until it bunched up enough to stop him. His body slumped. Not far away from him the Decepticon stomped through the cars. His eyes gazed down to a group of emergency personnel who were trying to help the wounded. Now they were fleeing from a large metal hand reaching out for them. A young adolescent with a broken leg seemed suitable. He tried to spring away with his mothers help but the hand grasped down. The mother screamed as she feebly tried to hold onto her son. But with minor motion by the giant robot, they were separated, both shrieking for one another, as one was lifted into the air while the other was stranded down below. Pained screeching and tumbling metal, the Decepticon turned to face the Autobot.

"Stay down!" He ordered and folded out one cannon and launched a blast at the concrete at Bumblebee's feet. The expanding energy was enough to disable Bee's legs and they collapsed underneath him. In large strides the Cybertronian returned to Bumblebee and planted a foot back on Bee's chest. This time it wasn't to do any damage but to pin him. The Cybertronian floated the hysterical child over the yellow Autobot's face. Bee's optics lit up wide full of questions and pleading.

"One worm." The creature raised the child beyond Bee's grasp. The boy was then slipped inside the palm of the metal hand. The boy was screaming and crying in sheer terror. The same terror was spreading over Bee's spark. The robot lowered it's damaged head closer to Bee's. "If you can't save one worm," a small crunch then the Decepticon's hand went silent. Bumblebee screamed in protest, kicking his vocalizers past their broken capabilities. "How do you expect to save their entire race?"

He stepped off the Autobot and his hand made a gesture. For the first time Bee flinched and brought his hand up to protect his face, only to feel a lifeless body bounce off of his broken armor. Upon realizing this, Bee shifted his weight to examine the boy. He carefully picked him up with his hand and cradled him while scanning it with every scanner known to Autobot hoping for a fleeting chance that the boy could somehow have a spark of life. He whined his servos as more and more sensors where coming back negative. At his back he felt the large robot tick with frustration.

"I get no satisfaction in watching you suffer." The Cybertronian muttered back in his standard emotionless Cybertronian tone. Gears and servos worked themselves together as Bee could hear the powering up of the powerful cannon. Bumblebee's eyes darted back towards the Decepticon but he refused to turn his head and face him. Who cares if he took a cowardly death. And cowardly by who's standards anyway, Decepticons? The cannon was still charging. Even for one who has lived longer than an advancing race's entire written record, waiting for the inevitable blast edged on towards an eternity. Then a loud blast and explosion. Bee's body violently jolted.


	2. Mass Media

_First of all I would like to thank everyone who faved, watched or commented on my story. I was really expecting to just post it and having it stagnate for a while with no response at all. So I'm really glad that people liked it. This is my first fan fiction and I was nervous posting it so I forgot to put on a disclaimer. So for redundancy, what's theirs is theirs and what's mine, well I'm not about to fight tooth and nail over._

* * *

**CH 2**

**Mass Media**

Not too terribly far away and a few minutes earlier. Sam Witwiky clattered out of a classroom with a hundred other bodies. With a seamless motion another boy slipped through the crowd and walked with Sam in perfect step.

"So I was thinking," The boy started off before Sam even realized he was there. Sam recognized the boy. Kind of. He recalled that his first name was Troy and that he was some how some sort of science junky. Sam _had_caught Troy's inquiry on that fateful day of Astronomy class when Sam had a mental breakdown and demonstrated in front of the class why Einstein was wrong, to much of the bemusement of the professor and the rest of the class. At first Sam was delighted to share his information with someone who was scientifically nerdy enough and interested in what the hell was going on in his head, but after a time the Cybertronian writings that blinked before Sam's eyes dissipated and Sam was becoming annoyed with the tag along.

"Yeah, you were thinking?" Sam replied in disinterest. Secretly it was a sarcastic comment. When was this guy supposedly not thinking.

"Well, you haven't decided on a major yet, correct? I was thinking maybe you could take something like physics or chemistry. I think you would do well in a science related field." With a burst of even more energy, "Oh, there's a scientist named John Singleton. He thinks it's possible to send radio waves faster than the speed of light. I just thought you might be interested in knowing that, ya know, considering that you think that Einstein was wrong and this might be on to something."

"Yeah. Maybe." Sam's eyes surveyed the hall way for someone or something to use as a distraction to get out of this conversation.

"So, what do you think?"

"Huh."

"What do you think about taking physics and chemistry next semester. You're already in astronomy and I think you're in a couple math classes right."

"Troy, right? I don't know what I'm planning on doing yet, I mean this is my first year. I, I got time to you know, choose. A career path." Troy began to protest but Sam was quick to cut him off. "Look," he then licked his lips as he tried to run through his head _real_quick why he wasn't interested in using advanced alien information downloaded into his brain as his only lifestyle choice without of course using the words advanced, alien and downloaded into his reasoning. A sudden rush of people coming through the halls heading towards a break area was finally the distraction he needed to get out of the conversation. "What's going on?" Sam called out to them.

"Big robot fight! It's all over the media." Someone called back.

"Robot fight?" Sam questioned as he started racing with them. "What kind of robot fight?"

"A really big one verses a little one. The little one transformed or something from a yellow sports car." A girl from the crowd informed the new comers.

"What!" Sam squawked. "No, no, no, no, no." He pushed his way through people who weren't willing to give up their spots, nevertheless he managed to get through enough to get a glimpse of one of the televisions. In the bottom left corner was a little red box that read Channel 12. The screen was streaming live from a helicopter crew. Both the news crew and the helicopter crew were giving out commentary but over the crowd, Sam couldn't make out what they were saying.  
"Come on, Come on, c'mon!" Sam breathed as he fiddled with his phone. "Lennox! Come on!" The dial tone came up busy regardless of what buttons he pushed.

"Holy crap! That big robot is kicking ass!" One jock like character roared above the crowd in amusement. He was instantly shot down by everyone in the vicinity.

"That thing is killing people!"

"You ass! I drive on that bridge to get to here!"

"I have friends and family that could be out there!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Those were various comments that could be understood in the mass of booing and human growls to the young man. Once the smug amusement was wiped clean off the man's face everyone again directed their attention to the televisions. At the moment the camera was focused on two heroes who were pulling children out of a bus that was teetering on the edge. Sam gave up on the phone.

"You gotta drive me to that bridge!" He demanded to no one in particular. He picked the closest target. "I need to get to that bridge!"

"And do what?" A man asked incredulously with the look of annoyance. His shoulders and chest were twice the size as Sam but Sam wasn't phased and refused to relent.

"Please. I need to get to that bridge. I just need a ride."

"Yeah? Well get you're own car to be suicidal in-"

"That is my car!" Sam growled forgetting momentarily that he was surrounded. Sam swallowed some frustration down and realized he wasn't as crowded as before. He looked up to see that all eyes were wide and they were giving him 'crazy man' room. His eyes leveled for a moment then focused up on the TV screen. He stepped through the crowd taking advantage of the now given space. On screen the cameras zoomed in on the two robots. The large one pulled the yellow one to it's feet, then tore it's arm off. The room gasped.

Ice flowed up Sam's veins. He choked back something, a scream, or maybe a sob. As he did this his eyes blurred over with warm liquid. The room was silent now. The TV could now be easily heard.

"I don't know if you can hear anything, but I think I just heard the robot scream in pain." Frank the cameraman reported back to the audience. Sam kept his hand over his mouth. He was seriously fighting back a rush of painful emotions. Bumblebee sprang back to life and charged.

"Bumblebee you can't take him! Just run away! Please, just run away!" He whispered under his breath. A few peoples' eyes darted back and forth suggesting they heard him. Bumblebee couldn't hear him and he was now pinned under a greater hand. Everything the Autobot did after that was in vain. The rockets to the face greatly injured the large robot but only so much as to make it even more angry.

Sam watched through the painful process of the Cybertronian making one last painful attack. This time it wasn't physical attack but one that had a shattering affect against morale. Sam, alone in the crowd, knew just how much damage it could do. He then watched helplessly as the Decepticon shifted and conjoined both cannons into one super cannon and aim it right at the downed Autobot.

Sam silently shook his head with his hands over his mouth. "Bumblebee no!" He gasped. The room was so silent that if it wasn't for Sam and the news reporters, a pin drop could be heard.

Suddenly the camera shifted. It rotated to something non interesting like the dashboard of the helicopter.

"What are you doing?" Frank could be heard over the camera. "Victoria? What are-"

"I have to get out of the air space." The helicopter pilot urgently stated. There was a loud explosion heard outside the camera's view and a robot shrieking in pain. Then the connection to the Channel 12 News Skycam was cut off.

Someone in the crowd was quick to start flipping through channels. Most provided no new information. Only the crew who was trapped behind a wire fence reported that the military arrived and they were cutting off all media channels. To the dismay of all reporters and viewers everywhere.

Sam made his way out of the crowd and curled up by the wall on the other side of the hall.

When he watched Optimus fall before him, the strength of his emotions were only powerful enough to brim over his eyes and ache his heart. This time the loss was far deeper. Bumblebee wasn't just a good friend, but the best friend he had ever had. A huge part of his heart was dedicated to Bumblebee and now that part had been completely ripped out of him. Sam couldn't contain it. He began sobbing.


	3. Senseless

**CH 3**

**Senseless**

There was a racket of metal twisting, explosions and a robotic scream. Every atom in Bumblebee's body was expecting to be shattered in the blast so it had reacted to the sound. An over reaction: he startled, sharply. It still took a few nanoseconds for the Autobot to realize he hadn't been hit by the latest blast. Pebbles of rubble and shrapnel rained down from above as human jets cascaded overhead and immediately broke off into a defensive formation. It was becoming very apparent to the military that fighter jets were a particularly favorite target for Decepticons. Which would suggest that they were reluctant to send them out without some sort of powerful ground force to back them up. Bumblebee laid still with sensors fixed on the robot's next action. First was relative silence. Then it growled, stepped back and twisted itself into an alien craft and flew off into the sky baring straight to the highest altitude. A few more seconds of disbelief passed by before Bee eased his gears and lay down flat against the road. Just as that relief arose in him, it quickly wilted away by the sound of a mother's wailing cry. She was completely focused on her child. Even the fact that he lay inside the hand of a living robot didn't faze her. He groaned as he felt her presence reach over and grab her child. Her whole existence was crying out for a reason. He wished he had one.

_Plonk_

Plonk

Plonk

Rhythmic footsteps shook the bridge like aftershocks. There was more terrified screaming.

"Not another one!" Frank cried as he dropped behind some wreckage. "Victoria, you are crazy as hell! You know that?" He screamed as he huddled his camera. What gave her the idea to run out and video the robot as it lay on the ground, he didn't know. It's not as if she was a reporter looking for a raise or something! Worse, was he didn't know why he was going out with her. Wait. Probably because he was a camera man looking for a raise. Or something.

"If you're too chicken then give me the camera!" She yelled at him. Her eyes then stuck onto the approaching mechanoid. To her side Frank simply glared at her.

"Fine." He didn't relinquish to her request but rather to the challenge. He pulled the camera to his face and hit record. He then peered over to see what she was looking at.

"Aw, Bumblebee." Optimus sighed as he stepped closer. The small bot below him looked up and whined his vocalizer. Optimus knelt down and helped Bumblebee up into a sitting position. Bee's head slipped back to look at the women who was cradling her son. She barely gave concern for the two robots above her.

"S-s- s- - o o ooo . . .seeeennn nnselesss." Bumblebee struggled against his unwilling voicebox. His servos whined when he didn't think anything tangible came out. Optimus blinked and sighed.

"I know." He put his hand on Bee's good shoulder. "But you stood up against it. In the face of all odds you prevailed. You should be proud." His voice purred over the last word. Bee dropped his optics. He didn't feel proud, and he didn't feel like a hero. Never had. Optimus vented fresh air into his systems. He stood up and surveyed the area for Bumblebee's missing part. He spotted it near a couple of humans who were watching him with their camera. His emotion processor flinched. The media had gotten a hold of this. This was going to be a mess.

Two steps was all it took to clear the gap between Bee and his arm.

"Easy you two." The two humans rattled at the close proximity of the new giant robot, they collapsed on to the ground. "You wouldn't want to get stepped on." He warned with an oddly warm voice.

Bumblebee reached up for his arm. Optimus obliged. Bumblebee forced enough strength to straighten himself up and slid the arm into place. There was a sickening thud twined with groans and flinching as he reconnected the broken pieces together. His arm then limply dropped to his side.

"You're job is done here, let's get you some place safe." Optimus reached down to help Bumblebee up. "Up you go," he encouraged. Bee's legs gave out under him. Optimus instinctively reached out to give him full support, even if it meant picking him up. They didn't go far as Ratchet was on the other side of the center barrier awaiting to look Bumblebee over.

"Oh we have to get this!" Victoria whispered. She and Frank slipped through the broken barrier to film the follow up of what was taking place. There were now three robots up on the bridge just a few yards away from them. Then a Black GMC Topkick started transforming. Frank gulped.

"Just how many of these things are there?" He whispered to Victoria. Victoria ignored him and seemed to have a new found pool of bravery after their encounter with big blue. Pulling out a small device she began to approach the four robots. Frank not about to be outdone, followed.

Ironhide growled as he stared up at the sky. He stood a few paces away from the two who were clustered around Bumblebee.

"Who was that!" Ironhide barked. He turned his head to see Optimus shake his head. Ratchet of course was too busy ignoring everything in the world except the task at hand. Ironhide turned back to the sky and threatened at the gone enemy. "Coward! Hmmm! I'd like to see you pick a fight with someone your own size!" He whirled his cannons announcing his challenge. Even though he technically wasn't that much bigger than his downed friend. He looked down to see the two reporters hovering below him.  
"Watch out!" He snapped at them as they strayed too close. His disposition was no where near as friendly as the blue and red one. His voice could probably break the confidence of the most sternest of people. He paced back towards the way he came from, his optics were still fixed on the sky.

"Put that camera away!" Lennox demanded. The helicopter crew seemed more surprised by the fact that a human was among giant robots than the giant robots themselves.

"Wait, the military is working with these things!" Frank gawked. He refused to hand over his device. Lennox braced himself and grabbed for the camera. Frank still fought but in the end Will managed to slide the disk out with ease. Victoria quickly slipped her recorder into her pocket.

"What are you doing? The people have a right to know!" She demanded. Lennox ignored her and turned to a group of young soldiers who came to his charge.

"I want you to take them -" his arm pointed at them but his voice drifted away from Frank and Victoria's ears. The soldiers then rushed them and moved them away from the area. Victoria watched Lennox as she was pulled away. She could hear this,

"Bumblebee? You're going to be okay. Alright?" He rested his hand on a piece of the robot's yellow metal. His voice was similar consolation to one you would use on a wounded or scared friend. The bot groggily nodded. Lennox pulled himself away, he had business to deal with.

"Ratchet?" Optimus called for a status.

"He's stabilized." Ratchet replied in autopilot. Bumblebee's head drifted back and his optics dimmed. Ratchet transformed his tools away. "Well, he's not damaged enough to go into stasis. Yet." Bumblebee flinched at the suggestion of yet. Only Optimus could clarify for sure but Bumblebee likened the feeling of being in stasis to death. He pulled some systems into a standby to try and conserve what little energy he had left. "I'd like to have a better look at him as soon as I can. I'm worried about the cracks on his chest plate." Ratchet eyed the cracks concentrating on the most nano-particle details. Optimus stood and turned his face towards Lennox and nodded.

"Autobots, fall back."

* * *

Still at the wall, Sam had managed to calm himself. He sat on his haunches with a cell phone pinned between his hands. He couldn't help it, he felt so much rage against Bumblebee right now. He shuttered his body together as he went through his thoughts. He had expected this day to come. He had tried distancing himself from the Autobot for a while now. He was naive when he accepted Bumblebee's offer to be his guardian after the AllSpark battle. Most of it was immature exhilaration of feeling special for acquiring an intelligent non-biological alien, but Bumblebee was more than that. More than some angst teen fairytale, more than a piece of talking property. Far more! Sam had gotten to know Bumblebee so well that he could tell his mood when he was in car mode by how full the tires looked. In return Bumblebee knew just what quirky thing to play on the radio to snap him out of a bad spell.

Sam sniffled forcing his tears to back flow into his sinuses.

First it started out as a feeling, a twinge that existed on the back of his brain. That at any point his friend would be called away to never be seen again. It was mild and could easily be swept aside unless a moment of quiet appreciation triggered it. It was no big deal. He even got that feeling from time to time with Mikaela.

Then Optimus called Bumblebee out on assignment. Sam narrowed his eyes and he wrenched his phone.

Bumblebee had thousands of years of stories and feelings that were locked up in him. Sam appreciated the fact that he was the one who got to hear most of them. Bumblebee would talk for hours, days if Sam would have allowed him to. Usually resulting with parents who were upset when their son refused to leave his car.

Then he came back from his assignment. Nothing was said about the mission. In fact, nothing was really said since then. Somehow Bumblebee damaged his vocal processors again. After so many eons hoping to speak, he went mute again. Sam's lower lip tightened. Bumblebee played it off as if it was no big deal. He's playing it off. He remembered snarking to Mikaela when she asked why he reverted back to radio talk. It was so obvious that it was a big deal. Sam made sure to rub it in whenever he had the chance. Bumblebee tended to get so wound up with protecting Sam's feelings that he would fail to realize how much he was actually hurting them. That was something that ticked Sam off the most. That coupled with the small twinge of fear suddenly made it's way to the forefront of his thoughts. Often, as Bumblebee was getting called out for more and more missions.

Just prior to college his anger and frustration that had built up over that that he started pushing Bumblebee away. All those times when Bumblebee would play something quirky to cheer Sam up, it would backfire. The guilt of pushing Bumblebee away was so strong that at times it kept Sam awake at night. Yet impulsively he continued to push his friend away. The worse thing of all was how patient Bumblebee was with him. His rage shifted to himself.

I should have been-

I should have done-

I should have said-


	4. Cat is Out of the Bag

**CH 4**

**Out of the bag**

Victoria steamed as she was finally let out of custody. She walked down to the street and checked her watch. The taxi should be pulling up any minute. She shook her head at the thought that Frank would probably avoid any use of vehicular travel for at least three months. She tried imagining him on a bike. She nodded in agreement with her image that yes Frank was so stringy he would fit well on a bike. Her appearance was far from stringy. She was wearing a cream colored suit that didn't hide her feminine features. Her dark brown hair was in it's place. Bangs played around her face and a neat tail of hair pulled behind a large barrette. She looked like a reporter. In the past people have told her that she should give it a shot, but she had little interest in standing in front of a camera. She loved being in the air too much. But she also loved her role of being on a team who would find out what was going on in the world and letting everyone know.

Her fingers tapped on the packet of papers that she was given. What a bunch of bureaucratic bull. She couldn't talk about how the military was in cahoots with the mechanoids. Nor could she tell anyone that she had seen many of them. As far as the military were concerned, they would rather have the public believe that the yellow robot went out of commission. Their official response so far was 'no comment'. She did wonder just how many there were. She saw four straight out. And behind them were a handful of assorted vehicles that weren't exactly standard military equipment. Bright, flashy and colorful sports vehicles and bikes. Not standard at all. The taxi pulled up and Victoria swallowed with unease. Could she even trust that a car was a car anymore?

* * *

"You okay?"

Sam was sitting comatose against the wall. He picked his head up to look and see who. He didn't make much connection. Looking down at his phone he saw that three hours had passed. No calls. He sighed.

"No," he replied in a flat but bitter tone. "I'm not okay. I just watched my best friend get himself killed while the whole world thinks they just saw another exciting episode of Robot Wars." He got to his feet.

"No they don't." Troy replied evenly. "A lot of people got killed today." Sam looked around to see that many other people were loitering around staring at their non responsive cell phones.

"That doesn't make me feel better." Sam muttered. He was being selfish but he didn't care.

"They want all the students and faculty down in the auditorium for an announcement."

Sam's heart froze. A good deal of population on campus has an inkling suspicion that the guy who was seen on every channel around the world might be roaming around in their midst's. And three hours ago he was just dumb enough to admit it.

* * *

Sure enough, a sea of white eyeballs flashed among the crowd acknowledging Sam's presence. He had to catch a chair to prevent himself from falling over in shock.

The speech wasn't overly important. Just letting everyone know in the vicinity that less than thirty miles away there was an attack on our people. Just in case somehow, that little factoid had escaped them. At some point Sam looked around for his roommate Leo. If anything he was probably back in the dorm on his computer. Seriously, Leo could have just as well did online from home. He soon dropped his gaze as too many people met his eyes. He tried to ignore his senses the best that he could but he couldn't shrug off what felt like walls closing in on him.

Sam's evening wasn't about to get any better.

* * *

It was getting late. Sam spent most of his time pseudo hiding on his way to the dorm. The halls of his building were full of open doors as usual. His dad had a no locked doors policy but this was ridiculous. TVs and internet streams were playing steady through out all the rooms. The only good thing was that people were clustered into the rooms leaving the hallway relatively clear. A large portion of media was stuck on one talk show speaker who was having callers and webcam users call in and give their advice and thoughts about what happened. Why the one station was favored Sam couldn't tell until he heard a very familiar voice._ www dot the real effing deal-_

"What are you doing!" Sam demanded as he stumbled through his door. Leo groaned for a moment. Then brightened up as he realized this as an opportunity.

"Oh hey! This is my roommate, mi hombre Sam." Leo greeted taking as much effort to be center in the little camera's bubble.

"No! Don't disconnect, keep it rolling. Sam? As in Sam Witticky?"

"Witwiky" Sam replied in habit. Reality kicked him in the stomach. If he hadn't entered until a few seconds later the show would have scrapped Leo's call, writing him off as an airtime whore with nothing intelligent to say. Sam's head beaded with droplets of sweat as he stared at his roommate.

"Yeah, I was with this guy when that major mondo robot villian was after him!" Leo boasted.

"Right, no you have to stop this. You can't be doing this." Sam reached over in attempts to disconnect the camera.

"Hey! You know the law! No touchy on any of my stuff unless I say so. And you know what I say? I say, nooo!"

"Leo, I can't believe you would do this to me. You know how low key I've been trying to, and then you just invite the entire media circus into my home.

"Dorm."

"Whatever. Leo!"

"Hey, come o-"

"Right there, right in front of me. In my own room. I practically sleep there. I know you don't understand, I don't know why you don't understand. I would think it's obvious as to why it should be understand, stood."

"Cut to commercial."

"Hia, chill bro, chill! Don't try to hide it, you're a star now. Everybody knows who you are, you might as well accept it." Leo waved his arm to introduce the camera.

"Yeah getting my face plastered all across the world was great. Yeah, no. Love the fame. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a new social security number? It's not easy and I'm still fighting with, credit card fraud. I can't even buy socks. Socks Leo! Without people looking at me like . . ."

Sam continued to pelt his roommate with low fast talk. The only thing Leo was able to manage was a few squeaks of consonants.

"And I don't want you saying anything bad about my car!"

"Sam!" One of the monitors shouted to him. Sam turned with the typical deer in headlights look he had when he was nervous.

"Why don't _you _tell us about you're car."

* * *

That tricky charismatic bastard. He somehow managed to get a metaphysical gun to Sam's head. All through the guise of pleasant chit chat. It didn't help that Leo was quick to flank him.

Sam sat defensively along side of Leo who was too busy realigning his camera to notice. The other monitor announced Sam's name and face to the world, again. Sans social security number this time at least.

"So Sam, you are the man with the car that turns into a robot." He knew just where to articulate and pause.

"Sure." Sam replied wiggling like a worm with a hook in him. A broad smile crossed the host's face and Sam could swear he saw a flint of evil.

"So why don't you tell us about this," dramatic pause, "robot."

"What? Like, how- what you mean?"

"His name is Bumblebee." Leo jumped at the initiative. "He's a super advanced robot from outer space. Yeah, you can go to my website, tells you everything about what they were doing and where they landed. All the way back before the media or anybody else even acknowledge they were here. Again my website is www dot the Real Eff-"

"Sam, his name is Bumblebee?" Sam took a second to pull his glare off of Leo to look at the monitor. "Did you name him that?"

"What? No! I wouldn't name my car Bumblebee, that's just-" He caught himself before he said something insulting to his friend's name. "No, um it's like this. We can't speak their language, okay. It's like impossible for us. So they just chose new names, or translated the best that they could. Ya." He licked his lips. "Probably because he likes yellow and black. And because he's small and a pretty good fighter. Or he scouts. Like a bee."

"They, Sam? Just how many of them are there."

Fear rolled through Sam's eyes. He uncomfortably shifted in his chair. "I um, I don't know all of," he winced at his word of all, "um, two."

Wow! Roll a bluff check! Idiot.

"What?" Leo squawked at Sam's guess. "Comm'On they're are waaaaay more than two. You got Optimus, and what's the black one's n-?" Sam swiped his foot into a leg of Leo's chair. "What?"

"You know what? No! I shouldn't be doing this." Sam stood up from his chair.

"Wait, wait, wait, Sam. Okay, we'll just stick to your car. Okay? Does it, he? Have a personality?"

"Yea. Why wouldn't he?"

"What kind of personality."

Sam knew this one well. But when he opened his mouth to answer he realized that personality wasn't exactly something you could summarize in a handful of sentences. He stuck to the basics.

"He's usually pretty upbeat. Likes to show off, but he's really sensitive."

"Your car's an ass." Leo interrupted as he was sprawled out in comfort over his chair.

"What?"

"Your car. Remember that time he sprayed me down with that nasty yellow shit." Leo sounded like he was remembering a joke a friend played on him. If it wasn't funny at the time it ended up being a good laugh for later.

"You deserved that, you were acting like a total jerk! I mean, I would have done the same thing. Plus you were dragging Simmons around with you and you know how much Bumblebee hates him. And I told you not to talk bad about my car!"

"What does Bumblebee have against Seymour anyways?"

"Right now isn't the time to get into it." Sam growled.

"Why not? I really want to know."

"Drop it."

"Dude just tell me."

'Because Simmons kidnapped me from from him and then tortured him!' He didn't say it. Wanted to, didn't. But the look on his face conveyed that Leo should immediately drop the topic. Leo's hands went up in surrender.

"Know what. This is stupid. Everyone wants to know about these robots. Fine. There are two groups of these robots. The Autobots, who are good. And the Decepticons. Megatron, who thought that putting up my face across the world would lead to my capture and make his quest to destroy earth easier, which it failed thankfully, is the leader of the Decepticons. Yeah, and the Autobots, which my car is one of them! Came to this planet to protect us from the Decepticons. So all those people out there who think-"

"And how is it exactly you know that the Autobots that you speak of are truly the good guys?" This seemed to be what the host was waiting for. I good chunk of steak to sink his teeth into. With those perfectly white teeth that Sam saw the glint of evil in. "I mean, what exactly do they gain out of this?"

"Wha- Well. A place to call home I guess." Sam trailed off as he felt the trap closing in on him.

"What's wrong with their home?"

"Well, Megatron destroyed it."

"Oh. So Megatron shows up to this planet, along with his deception friends. Causes havoc to our cities. Am I right Sam? That is what happened in Mission City is it not? And magically more alien robots show up, who look just like them and all they want to do is play heroes?"

"Wai- but it's not like that!"

"No? Sam. Did it not seem strange to you that they all just happened to show up all at the same time and suddenly all this damage and chaos started happening?"

"Yeah but that's because they were fighting for-"

"Oh fighting. So it wasn't enough for them to fight on their own planet, they had to take it to ours?"

"N-"

"I don't know about you Sam but I don't find it entertaining in the least to have a bunch of savage unfeeling monsters show up on my planet just so they can play Godzilla in our cities!"

"Stop this! You're not even giving me a-"

"Tell me Sam! Why do you have a robot car anyways? Was it some sort of protection money deal to keep you from speaking out against them? Do you fear it? Does it watch you to keep you in line?"

"DON'T TALK BAD ABOUT MY CAR! My car gave his life to protect people! PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" A fury of white hot emotion screamed from Sam's lungs as his voice stammered to keep up. Leo sat stunned as he was still reeling from the relentless antagonizing to his roommate. Sam's face flushed with blood as he stood heaving and shaking at the camera. Leo suddenly jumped to his feet and yanked out the cords to his connection.

"Sam!" Leo pleaded as he tried to catch Sam before Sam fled the room. Out in the halls everyone was gathered staring at Sam's door. It whipped open and Sam burst out. He stopped when he saw all the people closing in around him. The walls were getting closer. They were sprouting spikes. Sam's dry, bloodshot eyes frantically looked for a way out of the mass. He back peddled away from everyone. He was terrified, confused, alone.

"Just leave me alone!" Sam shrieked as he bolted down the least populated path.

"SAM!" Leo called out to him. He turned back to the crowd with disbelief. "I don't know what happened! The guy just started attacking him!"

-  
Sam needed to find some place safe. Somewhere away from the sea of eyes that stared at him. Who wanted to close in on him. Maybe they wanted to hurt him. And Bumblebee wasn't there to protect him. Sam swallowed a brick. He could hardly see straight. He found a lonely stairway to crawl under. He barely managed to get himself curled up into a ball when his phone went off. He fumbled through his pockets and pulled it out handling it as if it was molten rock. He glanced down at the display.

_W Lennox_

Sam dropped it and brought his sleeve up to his mouth and tried stifling a seizure to his diaphragm. Not now. He couldn't take it. He knew what he had done was stupid. Stupid and life destroying. The last thing he needed was to pick up the phone to hear Lennox proclaim, 'Sam, Bumblebee is dead. Oh and by the way, because of what you've done we need to lock you up, like forever!' He picked up the phone and slammed the outside buttons forcing the phone to be silent. He then curled up and fought off an attack of hyperventilation.

* * *

It was now Friday morning and it was astronomy 101. And it was the last place Leo could scratch through his head where he could find his roommate.

"Sam!" Leo bolted around the desks to get to Sam's side. Sam was rolled up in a little ball over his desk near the back of the room close to the exit. He was trying to keep a low profile. It wasn't working and it didn't help that his roommate was blurting out his name. Leo took a seat next to Sam's and nearly toppled the chair over as he leaned over to talk to him. "Sam I didn't think he was going to do that. Sam! I'm sorry! I only did that interview last night because I thought it would help let people know that most of those robots are on our side. That guy just," Leo trailed off in frustration. "Look, I got a lot of hits on my website last night and I wrote everything on why that guy was wrong. I need you to-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Sam muttered through his arm. Leo nodded in understanding but he couldn't let the subject drop.

"And that thing about you're car being a jerk, it was a joke. I didn't think you were going to take it seriously. Sam I," Leo paused and lowered his head. "Sam I didn't know!"

_How could you not know! You practically STALK my car!_

"I didn't know it was Bumblebee!"

Sam started coming apart at the seams. He clutched his arms tighter. After a long struggle he composed himself enough to get his voice audible. "Leo, I don't want to talk about it, okay? I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to talk about super robots and I don't want to think about my car! Please. I just want to pretend that my life is normal just like everybody else's." Sam's voice was constricted. It had to be or he'd loose it. Leo stepped out of the desk. It made a racket compared to the quite room. He shuffled down a few rows and found an empty spot a few seats in front of Sam. Sam was motionless except for his eyes that followed Leo's movements. His eyes also pinpointed the number of people who were listening into the conversation but were careful not to stare. The people continued to watch Sam out of the corners of their eyes.

The classroom was sparse today. A lot of people didn't think class was nearly as important as people dying. Nevertheless, this class went on. Sam never moved out of his ball like state except for once, when his phone rang. He fumbled for it and hung up when he saw that it was from Lennox. Sam hated this. He expected the world to bear down at him any moment. He came to class for a distraction, but it failed pathetically to the distraction of trying to run for his life, resurrect Optimus Prime and saving the world. At the moment of the first ring that erupted from Sam's phone, Sam flinched with such force that his muscles felt like they had been torn apart, even continuing to burn minutes afterward. He expected his professor, who was very keen to call out Sam in the past, to charge at him yelling and screaming, reducing Sam to a pile of worms, sniveling and infested with tears and snot. He did not though. He'd allow the 'do not interrupt me with cellphones' rule to slide just this once. He cast over a momentary glare but made a point to keep it short. After all, everyone else got a free pass to grieve in agony over their lost or missing friends. Just because Einstein boy was difficult and eccentric or that his friend happened to be a giant robot didn't mean he deserved exclusion. Besides, the kid looked like he'd break if somebody breathed on him the wrong way.

That class came and went and the one following it was canceled. His class schedule was set up to purposely give him a free afternoons on Fridays. Now he was downright dreading it. The time was now reaching eleven o'clock in the morning. He stood at the doors staring out of the windows. He didn't know where to go. He wanted to go home, wanted to be with Mikaela. He didn't want to talk. He couldn't stand the thought of talking. He just wanted to be with somebody who cared about him, wrapped up in her warmth. But he couldn't go to her, he could barely make himself move through the university doors. He picked up the phone to her number. She had called eight times since he turned off his phone this morning. Lennox called five and his parents called a whopping twenty three times. His mom. And he always thought his mom hated his car. At least she knew how important the car robot was to him. He didn't bother to listen to the voice mail or check the text messages. He wanted to, but not as much as he _didn't_want to.

The moment of distraction was enough to push him through the doors. The warm breeze hit his face and it was a cloudy overcast day. When the breeze stopped it was horribly humid. Sam walked through the lawn heading in no where particular. He most certainly didn't want to go back to his dorm. He was glad that the other students were avoiding him as much as they were. The last thing he wanted to do was explain to them the particulars to having giant aliens for friends. Another plus side was people weren't outright attacking him. Which is what he was mostly expecting.

Media cameras and reporters on the other hand were eager to jump at the chance to have him explain to them what it's like to have giant aliens for friends. He turned out to a sidewalk and suddenly discovered he was surrounded by them. They got in his face, screaming his name at him. Boons and lights hoovered around him. His panic turned into a daze as his mind and body drew a blank at what he should do. His eyes drifted for something comfortable. The yellow Camaro parked at the edge of the sidewalk. Yellow Camaro!

Second sign of dealing with the loss of a loved one is denial. Sam stared at the racing striped Camaro. Okay, he'd gone crazy he'd admit that. How do you not go crazy with technologically advanced alien mathematical equations cramming to find a place to file themselves away in the recesses of the gray matter in his brain. But even Sam wouldn't accept the idea that he was now going delusional. Yet he couldn't break away from what he was seeing. Soon though, the reporters started looking at it too. It revved it's engine even though no driver was seen. Sam in a zombified state, walked towards the car. A few steps in, then a few steps more he bolted into a run and screeched his voice.

"BUMBLEBEE!" His emotions fluttered through his body but his mind was in an absolute stupor. A few steps away from dropping his hands on the hood of the car to make sure he wasn't imagining this, he halted. His perfect yellow paint job was marred with blisters, welts, deep scratches and cracks. Even his nano-precision puzzle pieces could be seen easily by the distortion of damage. Sam swallowed. "Bumblebee? What are you doing here?"

The door popped open and a soft voice with violin and guitars responded.

# Grab a hold of my hand, get all your friends and just run away. You know it ain't a crime, to step out of line; and don't do it to say, it's your life come on and live it, here's your chance to say you did it we don't have to stay, I'll take you away. Let me take you away #

The media personnel had a good proportion of Sam and Bumblebee surrounded, but they knew to keep a healthy distance. Sam trotted to the drivers seat and stepped in. The door tried closing but it crunched and jarred open again. Sam looked up through the interior of the car. His mind still tried to reel as he saw how Bumblebee was literally falling apart at the seams. Puzzle pieces held gaps all the way from hairline to the size that Sam could put a fingernail through. The engine grated sickly as Bumblebee started driving off. Bumblebee did a U-turn then tried shifting his pieces in place with his passenger feeling the shifts underneath him. Then in a heave Bumblebee shifted everything in place and the door closed. They were off.

* * *

_*Song is by "Flava Puff" Josh Ryan called 'Take you Away' [Flava puff? WTF?]  
I found it through Amazon and it fit near perfect with what was in my head. As opposed to all the OTHER songs that was really ticking me off. But I couldn't find the lyrics so I had to write up the chorus myself, close as I could get it. One line doesn't make total sense to me, oh well.  
IDK. Not my taste of music but it wasn't too bad._


	5. Here kitty, kitty

_# represents radio talk_

_Sorry about the delay. I got horribly stressed out for my speech class a few weeks ago. It completely killed my creative side. Ugg. Anyways -_

_Ah yes, I also picked up Revenge of the Fallen Tales issue 2. Sideswipe came to earth for revenge, Ironhide tries to talk him down before the humans and Autobots are forced to dispatch him._

_The guy who did the fabulous covers has his artwork posted up on Dev Art. - markerguru(dot)deviantart(dot)com/_

_I left Dev over the Jark fiasco, but I remade a new account. I'll prob post up TF art whenever I get around to hooking up my scanner. Ouchimoo818(dot)deviantart(dot)com I'll keep you posted when I do._

* * *

**CH 5**

**Here kitty, kitty**

A few hours ago, Sam wanted to be a million miles away. At best he would have taken his home, or Mikaela's house. Where he really wanted to be, he never thought he could go, never again. And yet, here he was. The quiet moment of appreciation was there. The flood of worry about loosing Bumblebee was all over his mind. At the same time, he felt so comfortable and so safe that even his disastrous thoughts weren't at the forefront of his mind. Right now he just felt a passive peace flow through his exhausted body. He had everything he could have ever wanted surround him giving him comfort and warmth.

The best money can offer in a car, eat your heart out. Heated seats, climate control cab, indash DVD player, they couldn't hold a flicker to what Sam had. And he only paid two grand.

At his back the seat rumbled silent waves of relaxation and warmth. Not too hot, not spotty, but more akin to a comforting hug. The cab temperature was always perfect. He never ever had to deal with stepping into a hot car regardless how much the sun beat down on it or a cold car no matter how cold it got outside. In front of him, the entire window was playing a movie. Blues Brothers, a comedy of over exaggerated proportions. But alas, Sam could care less if the movie was playing or not. He most certainly wasn't in the mood for a comedy. It was to be a distraction to prevent him from drifting off into his thoughts. The thoughts that just a few hours ago, shattered his world. He looked over his not-a-car. Everything was there. Everything, for the most part, was all in one piece. Bumblebee was okay. He was beaten and battered, but he was alive. He was protecting Sam like he always promised he'd do. No, the movie didn't stop his mind from thinking, but Sam didn't think about the horrors of being alone. Not the thoughts of never seeing Bumblebee again, instead he returned to his thoughts about what he should have done better. What he will do better.

Sam couldn't help but notice that the movie was playing in less vibrancy than what it normally should. It wasn't because it was old, and it wasn't because there was a good amount of light outside, or that it was being pulled off the internet somewhere were the quality was bad. Instead Sam knew it was because Bumblebee wasn't paying attention to the movie either. Shame, it was such a perfect movie for Bee.

Right now Bumblebee's thoughts were fixed on his concern for Sam. The Decepticon that had attacked was at chilling proximity to where Sam goes to school. It could have been a distraction. Sam could have been snatched from him as he went to stop the large robot. But at the same time, as much as he was Sam's protector, his first duty was to the protection of this planet. After all, second chances don't come often. Bumblebee would fight his last flicker of spark to keep this planet and it's inhabitants safe. Another thing that rifled through his circuits was Sam's disastrous interview. Sam was barely able to go back to school because of Megatron posting his image over the world. The government did what they could do to erase everything about Sam outside of change his name. They wanted to do that as well but Sam protested. He wanted to live his own life as much as possible. Sam wanted to live a normal life. Something - something that Bumblebee took away from him.

"Bumblebee?" Sam sensed a twitch in Bumblebee's thinking.

#Hey, pal what's up?# One bonus of radio speak, it makes it easier to hide true emotions when caught off guard.

Hairline cracks and tears of damage everywhere. Sam couldn't help himself. "You shouldn't be here, you should be at base, resting. Ratchet's going to kill you, you know."

After a slight pause.

#Yep.#

He knew as well as Sam that Ratchet would never kill him over anything. That wasn't the point. Humans exaggerate to get their points across. Bumblebee understood that. He direly understood that Ratchet would not be happy with him. He kept his internal communications closed to all the Autobots for just that reason. Optimus had an override of course, but he wasn't about to leave an open channel to him either. After the attack on the humans, the media's involvement, taking temporary occupancy on an unfamiliar base dealing with uneasy residents and Bumblebee's sudden disappearance, he'd rather not chance it in case this was one of those rare times that Prime lost his patience. Besides, with the chaos happening everyone was too busy combing through information trying to find out the who, why and where on this Cybertronian. This left Bumblebee alone to deal with his thoughts. After thousands of years of experience he knew that doing nothing except dwell on negative thoughts can be disastrous.

"It's about that kid isn't it?"

That was apart of it. Bumblebee couldn't understand the senseless killing and it bothered him immensely. The kid was just a couple years shy of Sam's age when he met Bumblebee. Just an innocent child. He had no reason to be singled out. Which of course, caused media outrage. It gets worse the more Bumblebee looked through the online newspapers, articles and online videos. The death count was up to the twenties and still counting, hundreds more were injured and Bumblebee's intentions were being labeled as nothing more than a brawling event for sport. Never mind the fact that the Decepticon was three times his size, had armor to boot, cannons that could destroy buildings in a single blast and almost slagged Bumblebee. Despite the illogical reasoning behind the argument they wanted to paint Bumblebee as an unfeeling machine who was in on the attack. They were doing a damn good job at it too. Even attacking Sam over it. Another rippled of warmth spread across Sam's back. Sam furrowed his brow trying to understand Bee's response to his question. Bumblebee's concern was back on Sam, the ripple was the best he could manage as a comforting grasp on the shoulder.

Sam sat back in silence. He was that way for about an hour, then the phone vibrated. Sam was quick to snatch it out of his pocket but groaned at the name of the caller. He didn't answer it. An eyebrow raised in response to Bumblebee's lack of response.

"I guess we're both in trouble aren't we?" Sam smirked slightly as he hung up on Lennox. He looked at his phone momentarily and then rebounded with new desire to call his family. Mikaela first.

It was so good to hear her voice. She too had assumed the worse of Bumblebee so a lot of discussion revolved around that. Wheelie at some point started a ten minute fight with Mikaela over phone rights.

"Sam. You tell that Autobot he is freaking insane! Seriously, you're car has a death wish or something! Hey! No, gimmie, gim gimmi the phone! Anyways, maybe you should get that car to a psychiatric ward or something. He seriously has a screw loose somewhere! Hey!" Sam rolled his eyes at the jitterbot.

"Sorry about that Sam." Mikaela's voice warmed over the phone. With irritation he could tell that Mikaela was somewhat amused by Wheelies antics. He could never figure out why she liked that little Decepticon. His entire personality was warped around everything humanly possible to be insulting.

Bumblebee even broke off his thoughts for a moment to pander Wheelie's behavior as well. Skid's and Mudflap for that matter. For vorns under Optimus Prime everyone took their role very seriously but these guys, Bee gave a shutter of disapproval and went back to his thoughts. Two hours passed and Sam finally finished his conversation with Mikaela. Next up, his parents but only because they called him some twenty something times.

His side of the phone didn't even register as ringing before his mother frantically screamed out 'hello?' on the receiver.

"Mom, hi." Sam stated and pulled the phone away. As expected a rush of loud noise erupted out of the earpiece. He pulled it back to his ear just in time to hear,

"I'll get your father on the line!"

A three way call. First things first, Sam grudgingly told his parents that Bumblebee was alive and well. No disrespect for his guardian, but he was sure the thought of 'Great! No more alien psycho car!' crossed his parents minds. He was surprised by the response he got. Both sounded relieved and delighted that he was okay. Even another blow that knocked him off his high tower of thoughts was that his father asked how the car was emotionally handling the death of the young teenager. With his mother quick to mirror the concern. They were obviously distraught for the mother and family of the child as well as everyone else on the bridge, but to include Bumblebee in their thoughts as well. . . Sam's eyes looked over Bumblebee's dashboard. They probably wouldn't think that way if they knew that Sam had flat lined after he ordered his guardian to take his parents out of harms way leaving Sam behind. He tried to keep the phone call short. There wasn't a whole lot from the conversation he wanted to talk about. Death counts, the people affected, how much they wanted to rush to his side and protect him. His dad of course wouldn't outright say it, but it was not-so-subtly suggested. Finally the call dwindled down to goodbyes. After ten minutes of goodbyes he was finally able to hang up. He still couldn't get over his parents concern over Bumblebee. It was a small part of the conversation, but still! He thought they hated him. At the very least, they weren't too impressed with having a robotic alien living in their garage. There were instances that he understood why.

The way his dad toiled over the lawn. Having to redo the whole thing after Optimus and the others turned it into a truck stop. Then a stray dog jumped into the yard and chased after Mojo. Bumblebee tried to help. Some of the lawn got thoroughly destroyed, again. Then there was the sprinkler malfunction. Bee tried to help. Wet grass, mud and a two ton robot did not end well. Sam was supposed to paint the house. Bee tried to help. After a while, there was an 'under absolutely NO circumstances' rule about yellow robots and grass. It helped but it wasn't perfect. Then there was the little issue about Bumblebee and the garage door. Bee crashed through it when he went to Sam's rescue. That was understandable. But then there was the replacement and Bumblebee wasn't too impressed with the sensor that would stop the door if it was triggered. To re-initiate the signal the door would close. That happened twice before Bumblebee tore through it in his special form of protest. Okay new door. It lasted about a month. Bee got moved to the garden shed. Oh, Sam's mother was thrilled with that! It wasn't long before that had a gaping hole in it. It was re-sided, once. Then there was a gaping hole covered by a tacky piece of blue plastic. The shelves and everything else garden related tended to get smashed. In honesty, Sam thought Bumblebee did really well for two years. After all, he was a very energetic robot who was forced to sit around all day with nothing to do but watch TV and browse the internet. There were things of course that his car did that put Sam a little on edge. As many times as it was explained to the car, Bumblebee didn't really grasp the concept of monetary value. Don't break property. Even it is jerks like Trent and his obnoxiously glorified truck. Oh yeah, and of course the time that Bumblebee nearly burnt the house to the ground in the wake of Sam accidentally creating a bunch of mini Decepticons out of house hold appliances. But then again there were some signs of affection. His dad always made sure that Bumblebee's TV was turned on for the bot. Not that Bumblebee needed a physical TV. And there were times when his mom had tried to bling up Bumblebee. Big fuzzy purple dice, purple fuzzy steering wheel cover and purple fuzzy seat covers and all. Because complements match! There was no need to mention Sam's affection. He reached down and tightened his grip on Bee's steering wheel.

The weekend was pretty unexciting. Which was actually good. Sam was still a little paranoid about using his 'emergency only' credit card to order food. Not that he was really worried about Ron and his promise that every use of the card resulted in another life debt. Rather Sam was pretty terrified of getting tracked. Not that he could think of any organization over the government who could or want to go after him. Maybe that's how Lennox would catch him! But then again, if it was really that impertinent for Lennox to get a hold of Sam, he could have at least left a voice mail.

* * *

#It's time for back to school!#

Sam was perfectly comfortable. He was not thrilled to be woken by the most annoying voice on radio. An overly hyper mother excited about buying pencils.

#You up for it champ?#

Sam tried wiping the sleepiness from his face. Wasn't working. He slept okay. Not overly restless but not overly rested either.

"Yeah, yeah I'm up." It was an automated response lie. He sat forward waiting for his brain to kick in. No boot up chime, no progress bar only a realization of senses returning.  
"I need to take a shower first." Seriously. Bee didn't mind Sam's scent. To him it wasn't offensive, just odd. Sam minded Sam's scent. To him it was offensive, a lot. Amazing that he made it two whole days without soap.

"You're sure?"

Sam nodded. The last bits of tired lingered only at his eyes now. Bumblebee reluctantly started his engine.

* * *

Reporters must have spies. Either that or they didn't have much of a life. Of course in the age of technology, it didn't take a genius like Sam to figure out that by the time he'd reach his school that every person capable of using 411 could get a hold of at least one news channel to tell them that a Camaro fitting the description of _Robot_was heading towards a suddenly well known University.

They were everywhere, scattered across the lawn waiting for the yellow Camaro to drive up. And Sam thought he was up early this morning. The car slowed to a stop. Doors didn't open for Sam. The engine didn't quiet or shut off. Actually Bumblebee revved the engine a few times. Sam understood the call as 'let's go!' meaning Sam still had an option to drive off and leave it all behind.

"No Bee, it's okay. I got it." He managed to be pretty calm until his hand touched the door latch. He froze. His eyes glanced back at Bumblebee's dash. He then composed himself enough to get out. Sam stepped up onto the side walk, and tried to go around the media circus. His eyes dodged but he tried to keep them to himself. Then he tried to go through the circus as they surrounded him.  
"No comment." He tried to keep his voice still. Panic was building up. Hoisting his backpack higher, his head dropped lower he continued to trudge through the swarm.

#All the people on the street know *vwee veww^ *vwee veww^

Iced-out, lit-up, make the kids go *vwee veww^

All the people on the street know *vwee veww^ *vwee veww^#

The sounds of the radioized catcalls drew their attentions away from the teenager and back to the car. To their horror, there was no car but a fifteen foot tall robot. Sam broke out of the swarm and glanced back. Shock rolled over his body. His eyes went wide. Blue gentle optics gazed up to catch them. When caught Sam nodded numbly and turned back towards his dorm.

"Be safe, Bee." He mumbled.

A horrified crowd of people grew. Curiosity drew them closer even as their brains objected and screamed that they should run instead. But in human nature, as with the infamous cat nature, curiosity wins.

#Right here, right now, right here, right now, right here, right now, right here, right now#. The radio blared making sure that Bumblebee caught every ones attention. Bumblebee raised his hands up in harmless surrender, then drew them away from his body, still trying to make himself look as non-threatening as a fifteen foot robot could. He slowly stepped backwards heading towards the direction of the nearest park. His optics darted up to make sure Sam was making his way to his building and giving him a reassuring look to tell him everything was okay. Even if it wasn't. Optimus was going to- . . ._kill_ him.

A little ways into the parking lot, everyone realized Bee's motive was for him to be the center of attention. They were fine by that. Bumblebee had no troubles leading them to a quieter grassy spot at a park, allowing the college at least a little peace of mind. Though he was sure that the University viewed the media as the least of their problems. Bumblebee reached the max distance of his scanner range on Sam. So there he allowed the swarm to engulf him.

His radio stammered out obnoxiously upbeat music and he acted out to match the mood. He wasn't in a cheerful mood, but he forced it to present himself as less threatening. It was relatively easy because of his mimicry nature. A few dances in, the initial shock watered down. The reporters then gawked out their stories about the robot that stood before them. An unnervingly large group of people started to gather before him. Reporters, college people, people off the streets, you name it, they began showing up. As time when on, they became increasingly bold. It made Bumblebee nervous, he stepped back slowly to keep a distance. He was already putting so much focus on scanners to keep tally to where the people were which left less processors open to making sure Sam was okay and listening into what the people around him were planning. He most certainly didn't need another Sector Seven incident. It would be unlikely as Sector Seven had been abolished and he was technically under the rights of the Military, but this could easily get him into trouble.

Meanwhile Sam tried slipping into his room to gather his supplies for a shower. He did well, he managed to make it into his room unnoticed. His roommate was slumped over his desk drooling over his keyboard. Trying like a ninja Sam grabbed a new set of clothes and his shower tote. He decided to go for his books as well. That way he wouldn't have to face his roommate at all today.

"Leo!" Sharsky blasted through the door. Sam jumped back being caught red handed. His bottle of shampoo, towel and clothes hit the floor as his hands went open in surrender. Leo bolted awake and at first glance saw Sam. A time competition went nose to nose between Leo jumping to his feet and the shampoo hitting the floor. Sharsky also gave a surrendered look as he slowly backed away. Leo stared at Sam, Sam stared at Sharsky and Sharsky returned the stare.

"Uh, you do know that you're robot is outside, right?" Sparky gaped. When Leo's roommate returned and it was suggested that not only did Sam actually believed the stuff about the aliens, he was actually friends with them, irritation flared up about Sam's mockery of everything they worked on. Sam was fine with that, but now Sparsky knew better. He was face to face the great robot guru! Sam swallowed and nodded.

"Bumblebee's okay?" Leo's eyes lit up. Sam dodged his eyes to Leo and nodded again.

"I'll go get Fassbinder." Sharsky squeaked and slipped back out of the room.

"How? You're sure! Sam where the hell have you been?" Leo blasted out questions before his mind fully rebooted from waking up prematurely. He learned that Bumblebee was alive on Friday. He showed up at this university no less to pick up Sam.

"Bumblebee's been, watching over me." Sam mumbled.

Brain click. "Oh man, the media has just been swarming this place." Leo was about to continue then decided he should wait for a response from Sam.

"You think it's alright for me to go back to class?"

"Y- I - -i , maybe." Leo struggled with words. "I mean, everybody officially knows about you now." Leo stepped back to feel an awkward moment crossing over them. This was something he brought upon his roommate. He had no idea how Sam was going to react. His eyes tried to find something else to catch besides Sam's eyes. Old alien scrawl on the wall, drool on a keyboard, kitten calendar, kitten calendar, his eyes settled on a dirty fork. His hand reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. To his surprise Sam didn't freak out or start yelling at him. He just went quiet. His eyes picked up to see Sam solemnly staring off into space.

"I'm gonna, go," Sam reached down to gather his stuff, "shower." He mumbled. He disappeared out of the room. The second he disappeared, Sharsky and Fassbinder appeared.

"Leo you have to see this!" They blasted into the make shift computer lab and pulled up all the media that was reporting just outside their campus. The yellow metallic glory of Bumblebee was showing off to the world. Sharsky and Fassbinder were ecstatic at what they were viewing. Nearly trembling to grab Leo's arms and race outside to see it for themselves. They were completely taken aback when they looked to see Leo completely defeated. Head buried in his hands, defeated.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" A microphone was reached out towards Bumblebee. They were so very bold now.

Questions? Oh no. Bumblebee's upbeat mood instantly dropped away as did the radio. He'd love to answer those questions, but like usual he was without a voice. They were waiting with furrowed brows. Bumblebee reached up tapped his neck with three repercussions with his digits. Examining the expressions on the faces below him, most people didn't understand his gesture. He shrugged.

"You don't know?" Someone guessed. The sound of fear at least left his voice. Bee whirred a bit surprised by that. What? No no no. Bee shook his head while his hands flailed in the body language of misunderstanding. They still weren't getting it. More computing was pulled away from analyzing cellphone calls in and out so he could focus on pulling up songs. If only he didn't have millions to sift through.

The radio sparked back to life, this time playing something completely at odds with the spunky techno that played moments before. A deep throaty voice was singing rhythm and blues. It started somewhere mid song.

#Whoa! But every time I see you girl, not a word can I say. I just can't speak. _I just can't speak_. I just can't speak. No no, no. My tongue gets tied, all up inside, but I just can't speak. Ohhh, my soul is on fire baby,#

He wasn't sure if it was because he was trying to communicate with the radio, or just the music choice, but most of the people sported really funny looks on their faces. It would actually be really humorous if he wasn't so annoyed that he couldn't talk.

"You, can't speak?" A reporter muttered in disappointment.

They knew that the creature was speaking to Bumblebee in a strange language on the bridge.

"Is it because you can't articulate our language?"

Bumblebee shook his head again, he then reached up and tapped his neck again. Then in a gesture signaled that he had been clasped there. Their eyes brightened when they recalled him being picked up by his throat.

"You're voice is broken?"

#Bingo!#

Was that a murmur of sympathy from the crowd?

"Oh isn't that just peachy. They sent us a mute." A voice was mumbled catching Bee's attention. So much for sympathy. He really enjoyed the whole point three seconds of it.

"You can't tell me they aren't hiding something!"

More questions popped out, and they were seemingly satisfied that radio speak would answer them. Well, kind of answer them. They didn't really seem to care.

Bumblebee had a large portion of his processors dedicated to keeping track of everyone around him, listening to questions, cycling through his saved files of music and video clips, and keeping track of Sam's position and heartbeat. Less dedication was directed to communication between all the cell phone calls and text messages erupting around him.

"Could you imagine what we could learn by taking him apart?"

"Yeah, she's on her way. Make sure to keep him distracted until then."

"You think it's possible for him to get trapped in car form?"

Conspiracy was possibly going on in the crowd. It was too vague to tell, but he didn't want to take any chances. Bumblebee tried pinpointing where and who, just in case. He needed to find the phones that were sending suspicious communications. Needle in a haystack. Or maybe more like, needles in a needle-stack, it was just a matter of how many were planning on implanting themselves into eyes. There were phones everywhere. He needed more focus. He needed to pull from something less important. If he didn't have so many people around him! Granted not stepping on people is pretty high on the important list but focusing nearly everything on that was a little ridiculous. He couldn't take a step back because people where right behind him. So he made a motion for everyone to back away. The move was too sudden or too bold. Screams erupted and people hit the dirt.

No no no! Oh no. Cameras caught the scene before them. A crowd of people groveling or fleeing before the towering robot, who was completely distraught at the reaction he accidentally caused. Bumblebee looked absolutely mortified.

#Take it easy. Take it easy.# Bumblebee tried shushing and calming the crowd. The people looked back at him as if they just narrowly escaped a natural disaster of some sort. Bumblebee's hand reached to his head as he shook it in grief. He continued to pour out soothing songs and motioning for people that he had no intentions to harm them. Sam's heart rate jumped. Sam? Panic crossed over Bee. He expressed a fretful look before he could suppress it. Resources calibrated to the sensors on Sam. His heart rate and breathing were elevated. Sensors came back suggesting that nothing else was awry. The time and location would suggest that Sam just stepped into his first class. He took a long moment to study Sam's disposition at a distance.

The phone calls! Two minutes and thirty seven seconds ago he intended to scan for suspicious phone calls. Too late now. Besides, his goal to get Sam to class was met. He no longer had need to be distracting these people. Bumblebee decided to make a retreat before any real damage happened. If a simple gesture such as 'back off' was met with such fear, he couldn't imagine what reaction he would get if he happened upon a real miscommunication. Or worse, they planned something against him and he had to react. His retreat wasn't hasty. Slow and steady, trying to be as un-alarming as possible as Bumblebee tried to distance himself from the people. Some people just did not take the hint. Well, most were reporters, they probably just didn't want to take the hint.

Wrapping around the University to keep his focus on Sam, Bumblebee made his way to another parking lot on the other side of the park. The reporters would not leave him alone. He still hide it very well, but Bumblebee was getting very agitated.

#I like to move it, move it; I like to move it, move it# The music split to a female singer, #Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodby; Na Na - #

"How dare you!"

The voice behind him turned his coolant into ice in Bumblebee's lines. He could recognize that voice anywhere. The voice of wailing screaming, crying out why her son had been so cruelly taken away from her. Optics narrowed on the crew of reporters and camera people. Was this a set up? Was this their trap? The cameras stared back in silence.

"How dare you!" She repeated. "People are dead and dying out there and what are you doing? Playing music and dancing! Have you no shame?"

Bumblebee took a cursory glance towards her. He slipped away from everyone and headed to the asphalt. He felt so betrayed. He expected something from these people, but not this. Granted it was only speculation that this was their doing, the phone signal he received could have been for a toy designer as far as he could formulate, but he didn't trust these people. The articles of news that dehumanized Bumblebee, what better way to prove it than having the distraught mother catch him being in a good mood. A mood that he forced to play face with these people! As soon as his foot hit pavement he initiated his transformation sequence. Without the hum of the engine he rolled away from her.

"You COWARD!"

The car slowed to a stop. Nobody could sense it, but he was tense.

"You can't even face me?" Her voice cracked.

Bumblebee's engine fan whirred out in a form of a sigh. He rolled back on his wheels and stopped next to her. He lowered his window so she could hear his interior. She looked sickly. Stress had warn down her features. She was pale, the tissue around her eyes were dark and swollen, the whites of her eyes were stained red. She held her arms to her chest as she visibly shook.

#Mrs. Archer, I understand the pain and grieving that you are going through. In times like this it is hard on everybody. As hard as it is, we will pull through, we will survive. The most important thing is to remember our loved ones. Those memories will keep them alive in our hearts.#

The words streamed out of his radio flawlessly. You wouldn't even have known that it was streamed and cut together from multiple sources if it wasn't for the occasional voice pitch that Bumblebee couldn't quite line up. And it should have came out flawlessly. At times when he should have been in recharge, he instead devoted his time to piecing words together. Fully expecting that he would never encounter her. From the media's reporting Micheal was her only child. There was a problem with her reproductive system so her chance of having this child went against human calculated odds. He was her miracle and that miracle was literally crushed right in front of her. And even as the flawless stream sprang out from his radio, Bumblebee couldn't help but think that it felt empty. If only he had his real voice. He'd tell her that his jerkish attitude was only there to make himself appear less dangerous. That he understood the pain they went through and he just didn't want to be feared. He wasn't acting this way to be disrespectful to all those people who are suffering. He'd tell her that he went through loosing so much himself, that the only way that it doesn't kill you is to look ahead. Never forget your friends, but you can't let their deaths kill you either. The look on her swollen pained eyes told him she took it as an empty gesture. Bumblebee sagged on his chassis.

"If - - hate m- - - me, _ won't h-h-h- I won't-t hold it a-a-g-nst you." The more he struggled to hold his voice together, the closer if felt like it was going to break. In irritation, Ratchet's voice formed from his memory banks, "If you break your voice processor one more time, I'm done trying to fix it." Frustration welled over him. There was another reason why he left the military base. There were no positive feelings to be found. Either everyone was too busy or he was holed up with Ratchet. He recalled Sam joking once, 'Ratchet's the epitome of empathy'. The joke of course was drenched in sarcasm. Bumblebee sure wasn't getting any positive feelings from this encounter. He rolled away from the women without even bothering to register what the look was that she gave him. It wasn't positive, there was no need to look into it farther. He rolled away to the end of the parking lot and screeched out towards the traffic. He cut somebody off, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get away from all those people and fast. The engine growled and his tires screeched as he sped off.

* * *

Music list ! *I love my pandora. Otherwise I looked up songs on Amazon or Youtube. Sometimes it was frustrating, sometimes it was a lot of fun.

Starstrukk - 3OH!3 (About the closest to offensive & rap as I'll get. But I think the song is hilarious)

Right Here, right now - Fatboy slim (A little repetitive, but I love Fatboy Slim's stuff)

Can't Speak - Jimmy Bo Horne (I loled when I found this song on youtube. It's so random for me. R&B)

Take it easy - Eagles (Self explanatory but just in case, classic rock - oldies )

I like to move it - Reel 2 Real (Obnoxiously self explanatory unless you somehow missed the 90s - geez I grew up on some weird music)

Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge (I used this version because I noticed my song list was lack luster for female artists)


	6. You Should Talk

**CH 6**

**You should talk**

"-while your car is out running around!"

"Well, yeah it's not exactly like he can just, you know, park here. That's the rule here, freshmen can't have cars, so I can't get a parking spot for him so he can't park here, and he's not going to leave me, so what else is he going to do?"

"How about your big alien robot car just goes home?"

"Wha? Home-"

"Home, like take his shiny metal ass, back to his own planet!"

"Oh! In a heartbeat I'm sure he would go back, but uh, how are you going to handle the Decepticons next time they decide to attack? Are you going to take your physic's book and throw it at them? I don't know if you noticed this yet or not but, ya, big alien technological robots - us! Big technological robots that make our physics look like a- kindergarten learning book. So, technological super advanced robots - us, super advanced robots - us! What makes more sense, having technological robots on our side? Or just try and fight off the bad ones by ourselves?"

* * *

Sam peeled himself into the room. His face and ears were still red hot from his encounters.

"Uh. How'd it go?"

Sam looked at Leo as if he legitimately asked if water was wet. The moment of disbelief snapped back into his rage he felt seconds ago. "You know! I don't know what the deal is. Everyone was just fine when they thought Bumblebee was dead. Now that he's okay, I have the whole U breathing down my neck and telling me that it's some sort of crime to- don't you have class right now?"

"Uh," Leo blinked, that was quite the tangent jump, "yeah, but you're crazy if you think I'm going out there right now. I'm the roommate to the guy who has a giant robot for a car." A hint of cautious fear slipped over his eyes. "You should probably see this." Leo cringed as he pulled his monitor over for Sam's view. Sam watched. He simply shook his head as the media portrayed Bumblebee as insincere. It was no longer a surprise. "They're not all like that!" Leo perked up, trying to be a little uplifting. Sam shrugged as he rolled over onto his bed. "You going to class tomorrow?"

Sam sighed. "I don't know. Probably not."

"Well maybe you can help with my website."

"Isn't that what your, peeps, homes, whatever supposed to do?"

"eh. They've been a little weird lately. Besides, I've been redoing some of the content. Maybe you could look it over."

"Not right now. I think I'm going to try and get some homework done or something." Sam mumbled not moving. It still took him half an hour to listen to his own proposal. Meanwhile Leo continued to work on his site. At some point an instant message popped up on Leo's screen.

[18:03] from Argent Weasel: Sam there?

[18:03] from Spritz: ? Who's this? How'd you get my im?

[18:03] from Argent Weasel: Is Sam there? He's not at his computer.

[18:04] from Spritz: uh no he's reading rite now

[18:04] from Argent Weasel: Okay. Thank you.

[18:04] Argent Weasel has disconnected

"That was weird." Leo muttered. Sam paid no attention. His face was buried in one of his English books. That name sounded familiar. He rolled it though his mind where he seen that name before. Well he obviously picked it up somewhere if his instant messenger had it. He looked it up and saw that he didn't have Argent Weasel as a friend. Okay, Agent Weasel had him on his or her friend list and was a friend of Sam's. Leo must have deleted Weasel or something. He dismissed it and went back to his site. A few more hours passed and Sam passed out, book in hand.

Nine thirty rolled around and Sam snapped awake.

"Leo?" His voice escaped past his groggy mind. He clenched his eyes and his brain focused fully. Leo was no where in sight. Bee! Sam rushed to his computer. Bee tried contacting him a few hours ago.

[21:42] from Ladiesman: Bee you there?

[21:42] from Guardian: Always. Are you doing okay?

[21:43] from Ladiesman: Idk. I feel asleep sorry for not talking earlier.

[21:43] from Guardian: No worries. I was able to establish as much. Are you sure you want to stay here for the night?

Sam stared back at his computer for a moment. He wasn't sure. Of course he planned to blow off classes tomorrow, wait until the world cooled over. Since that was the case, he didn't really see any reason to stick around.

[21:47] from Ladiesman: Not really.

[21:47] from Guardian: Okay. I'll be outside waiting.

[21:47] from Ladiesman: oh hey b I'm going to bring some books to the library drop off. I'll be a few mins k?

[21:48] from Guardian: I'll be waiting.

Sam sent a message to Leo's computer telling him he was going to be away for a while. He then packed up some of his clothes, home work, Sam went back to his computer to send another text message to Leo asking him if he would do him a favor and get his homework assignments, he then packed other miscellaneous items such as his toothpaste and toothbrush and soap. He then grabbed the borrowed books and headed towards the library.

Ah, the library. The site of it made knots form in Sam's stomach. Yellow tape still danced in the humid breeze over areas that had yet to be 'remodeled'. Realistically they should have never let Sam back into the University. It was a good chance that he was a walking disaster and the University probably didn't carry alien attack insurance. Still Optimus was somehow able to pull strings. Come to think of it, Sam was covered with alien attack insurance. It's a good thing he managed to revive Optimus and have him in his dept otherwise, that would probably be really expensive insurance. His dad would probably have to foot the bill, as you can imagine how well that would go.

On his way to the library he noticed there was a surprisingly large crowd gathered at the football field and the floodlights blighted the sky of the campus. A candlelight vigil for those who lost their lives at the bridge. Sam assumed as much. Not being overly cautious or curious Sam walked over towards the lights. After all, he did feel like he should give his respects as well. By the time he arrived he realized he missed most of it. A few stragglers hung around yet. The speakers were all gone. Sam looked around wondering if this was where Leo had gone off to. He wished that if this was the case that his roommate would have told him. But then again-

"That's him isn't it!" The voice didn't sound curious or bewildered. Sam looked around and realized he caught the eyes of a rather well built man. He didn't look like the typical jock, more like a bouncer. A very pissed off bouncer. But like a jock, he had his groupies with him. "That's that bastard!" Sam took his cue, it was time to leave.

He was surprisingly quick. Sam yelped as two steps away he was grabbed. The man forced Sam's face up to his. The guy hoovered over him by a foot. Sam held his panic at bay and hoped this would be something he could just talk his way out of.

"You little piece of shit! Twenty seven people are dead because of your friends," The word was spat out in disdain.

"Look," Sam held up his hands in disarm. Before he realized it the man released his grip on Sam's shirt and snatched the pinky and ring finger on his right hand. And then snapped them. Sam screamed at the sudden attack and pain. He clasped his wound in his other hand and then his brain clicked. _RUN_!

He heaved out a whimper as he tried to break into a run but the man's friends grabbed him. He was held still and forced him to face the man again.

"What do you want from me!" Sam screamed! His mind still reeling at the burning hot sting in his hand.

"Twenty seven people! Twenty seven people are dead!" The man reached down and grabbed Sam's hand forcing up between them. He then wrapped his hand around Sam's middle finger.

"No no no! PLEASE STOP!"

"I'm going to start breaking bones! And I'm not going to stop until I have a broken bone for every person that died!"

"Somebody help me!"

"Hey! Let him go!" A prep jock stepped forward and grabbed the man away. To Sam's relief his finger had been spared. A quick scuffled erupted between the two power houses, giving Sam enough time to squirm out of the other people's grasp. He wasn't a fighter but he sure could give one hell of a run. Sam bolted away. The man as quick as he was before, was just as quick to catch up with Sam. Sam yelped out another scream as he tried to race across the field.

"Leave him alone!" Someone else tried to intervene to help Sam. Somebody else yelled out to call 911.

Sam squawked as the quarterback bouncer grabbed his limb and pulled him down.

"Please let me go! I didn't do anything!" Sam was able to get to his feet but he couldn't twist away from the hand clasped to his shirt. The other hand curled up into a fist and aimed for his face. For the first time ever facing up at a group of ruffian jocks that pure terror actually crossed over his heart. They actually planned to kill him with their bare fists. "No! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Sam flinched as he held his hands over his face. An engine growled and plowed through the chain-link fence. Speeds high enough to use on the freeway Bumblebee roared to Sam's aid. The car stopped on a dime at Sam's back. The headlights blighted blinding the men he faced. The engine floored with force, erupting powerful waves of sound that shook their bodies to the core. What normally was a redundant noise or a boast of ego, was now the roar of an angry tiger or lion. Or a robot. The men stepped back, suddenly intimidated. Bumblebee edged forward to let Sam rest on his hood. Sam's tense arms reached down behind him to feel the heat radiate off the engine underneath. The car continued to threaten as it stared down a field full of humans. He was so tempted to just convert there and show them what real vengeance or terror was like. As much as he'd love to, he knew that he was better than that. Bee popped open his drivers seat. After Sam's hands clumsily flopped over Bee's paint Sam retreated to the door, never taking his eyes off of his pursuers. He crawled in. Bumblebee let out one last mighty growl threatening to unleash his power and either chase them off or run them over. The people backed up terrified. A hiss of hot air sizzled before dimming his lights and discontinuing the confrontation.

Inside the cab, hot air washed over Sam. It wasn't the heater either. Bee was pissed.

In silence they drove to an open-late coffee shop. Sam had begged Bumblebee to stop. Bumblebee didn't approve but he complied to his friend's wishes. Sam didn't really want coffee. His hand was killing him though and he didn't want his friend to know that his fingers were probably broken. All he was looking for was some ice. He kept his fingers tucked away in the safety of his shirt. It was a good thing Bumblebee wasn't as keen about human physiology as Ratchet. Otherwise there would have been no point in hiding it.

Of all the luck! Victoria's heart thumped inside her ribcage. That car! There is no way! She saw a boy step out of the driver's seat of a sleek yet scuffled yellow sports car with black strips. Then as the door closed and the boy stepped onto the sidewalk, the car bolted away. By itself. There is just _no way_! She stared at the door as it slowly opened. Sam walked in with his sweater hood pulled over. He looked around nervously before making his way up to the counter. He avoided eye contact as he ordered. In fact he flat-out avoided facing the teller completely.

"Yeah, I'll take a raspberry. And a glass of ice! Please." Sam fumbled for a small wad of cash he had with him and slid it on the counter with his good hand. His sore hand still clenched itself inside of his sweater pocket. His order came up and he struggled to pick it up, he pulled out his other hand and worked the cups to a nearby table. He then walked over to the condiment counter and grabbed a thick wad of napkins. With his eyes to himself he failed to see that Victoria was watching him intently. The pain was distracting. He rolled out the napkins and pulled out some ice and tried, key word 'tried', to roll the ice up in the napkins. His right hand had gone into a frenzy of quivering. Yes, the pain was very distracting. He continued to fumble over his project when he bumped his raspberry mocha which ended up dumping scolding hot liquid over both his hands. He squawked and jumped back, then as quickly grabbed his napkins and tried to dab up the liquid.

"Here. Let me help you." Victoria offered. Poor kid. She picked up the cup and helped wipe away the liquid. Then she caught on to why he was struggling. "What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing!" Sam protested. "No, I, hot liquid, I just burnt it a little." He edged out weakly and glanced towards the window. Hair stood on the back of Victoria's neck._ 'Does it watch you to keep you in line?' _She was tempted to glance behind her as well, but she didn't need to, the car outside growled it's engine announcing it's presence. A constricted breath heaved out of her and she tried to help Sam out.

"Here, let me get you another one." She picked up the soggy waste and deposited it in the trash can then went to the counter. Sam grabbed an ice cube and wrapped his hand around it. Then he finished cleaning up the mess and tried to not look like an animal caught with a sharp trap around it's foot. She came back around with a new cup in hand and offered Sam a spot at her booth. Reluctantly he followed. There was no small talk started. Victoria froze when she glanced out and saw that the car had parked itself right, RIGHT, outside of the window. Sam seemed to try and ignore it.

"Bee get off the sidewalk!" Sam finally growled out. The car's engine revved and pulled away. It went to the other side of the road and haphazardly parked. Dread rolled over Victoria, right in front of her black sedan. Another awkward moment of silence past.

"So I see they were able to fix him." Victoria mumbled, keeping her eyes rather low. Sam stared off seemingly into space.

"Are you a reporter?" He finally spoke.

"No." She replied but noticed that his eyes were actually fixed on a little tag that said 'Channel 12' on her bag. "Well, I work for the news channel." Outside Bumblebee growled his engine.

"He's not really too happy is he." She cautioned her statement.

"No. Not really." Sam snapped. "But then again why would he be? They set him up! He was trying to be nice for them so they could get their kicks in but they had to go off and call in that woman." Victoria was taken a little aback by that.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Another water is wet moment. Sam bolted up from his seat and walked over to the counter where they were offering newspapers for sale. The guy behind the counter was too busy cleaning elsewhere to stop Sam from pulling off a newspaper from every publication without paying for them. He stormed back. He slammed the first one down. Quickly scanning through the front page article. "The robot that had entered the fray which caused the lives of twenty seven people so far and destroyed the downtown bridge was confronted by Mrs. Helen Archer, the mother whose child was singled out to be brutally killed on Thursday-." He slid that article aside. "-when Mrs. Archer criticized the robot it transformed into a car and sped off, nearly causing an accident on-" Sam pulled up another one. "A hero's tribute to the men and women who pulled eleven children off of the bus-" Sam paused to skim the story.

"I'm sorry. What does this have to-"

"It has to do with your unbiased reporting!" Sam scowled at the words, arching two of his fingers to quote the word unbiased. "Or should I say the lack there of!"

Victoria took offense. "Hey! Nowhere in those newspapers do they say anything that your robot didn't do."

"Yeah well, there's a difference between lying, and biased reporting."

"You can't tell me that what you read just now was biased!"

Sam's anger took a hold of him for a moment causing him to be too frustrated to speak. "This!" Sam pulled up the first newspaper he read off. "Entered the fray that caused- What like he just did it for fun and games? Like it was just some, what? Friendly brawl? Bumblebee nearly lost his life, what idiot thinks to write it off as just fun and games? And both of these 'Oh look at Mrs. Helen, what a hero she is! This newspaper. Saying that these guys are heroes, which they are, don't get me wrong, but they don't mention anything about how Bumblebee stopped the bus from getting destroyed in the first place. And you know what? He reads all this. He risked his life for you people and nobody thanked him. Nobody cared. You wanna know why he's pissed? This is why!" Sam wasn't sure if it was the pain from his fingers or if he was finally so fed up with being angry but he managed to get his words out quickly and effectively without his usual fretting or pauses. Outside Bumblebee threw his lights on and revved up the engine. Sam was making a scene and even if there were only four people in here at the time, that was probably four people too many. Sam bit his lip and nodded. He tore himself away from the table and headed towards the door.

"Sam wait!" Victoria called out behind him grabbing his sleeve. "Look. There are people out there who know what your robot did to help."

"Yeah well that's not good enough." Sam responded coldly. "I told that jerk, the one who attacked me on TV that Bumblebee is very sensitive. So what do you assholes do? They bring in the mother just so she can scream at him? Like he needs that! Do you know what that does, how much that kills morale? All you idiots out there who are crying about this robot attack are dehumanizing and demoralizing the only ones who can help." A new burst of confrontation, "You are helping that murderous bastard! By attacking Bee you are on the Decepticon's side! Don't you people understand that?" He ripped his arm away from her. Stare at her with angry eyes until it sinks in!

"You're right." She nodded dumbly, dropping her eyes and not entirely believing him. He believed he was speaking the truth so she would give him the benefit of the doubt. "Sam!" She called out his name again preventing him a step from leaving. "You asked if I worked at Channel 12, but I didn't tell you what I do. I'm the helicopter pilot. I was there when I watched him try and stop that thing." Sam's firm protest suddenly left him. She used that as an opportunity to take a step closer. "I saw the pain he went through to distract it, there are people out there who want to thank him." She then forced their eyes to meet. "Please, tell him thank you for me."

A weary set of eyes looked at her. "Why don't you thank him yourself."

Hiding that she was taken a little aback by that comment, she pulled out a business card, "Okay, I will." She handed it to him, "If you want me to, I will." Sam didn't say anything. He took the card, looked at it momentarily then shoved that and his swollen hand into his sweater pocket. He left.

The humid sky finally gave out to rain. This time Bumblebee hid themselves in an old tin warehouse. The rain sounded like thunder against the roof. Sam still had his hand tucked away from site. Currently it was nestled under his arm as he had his arms crossed. Sam stared through a large hole in the tin. Bumblebee was behind him buried in the shadows. Whether he was in his more natural form or as a car Sam wasn't sure. They had kept their distance for some time now. Bumblebee was tense which made him cold to the touch and uncomfortable to sit in. It didn't really matter right now. Both needed time to themselves to deal with their feelings. Bumblebee was a robot, from halfway across the universe. His physiology was very different from the earthen creatures. Sure he had a similar humanoid figure, but who's to say that that wasn't rearranged as part of the mimicry. Yet his emotions were very similar to the organic beings on this planet. Sam knew that even Bee was prone to lash out when tempered in a bad mood. There was no reason to push it, they were under so much stress already it would be stupid to entice more.

The warm breeze was no longer there. The wind that wrapped itself through the airy building was cold and the rain made it feel even colder. Sam shivered and glanced behind him to see where his friend was. He felt guilty when he saw two blue orbs watch him in the near distance. He felt guilty for being recluse, but most of all, he felt guilty for all the problems he caused for his guardian. Too many to be able to handle. The asshole who attacked Sam all over the TV, getting himself swarmed by reporters and being stupid enough to want to go back to school. What was he thinking? He just never knew when to quit. Now he had a broken hand and a very upset friend thanks to him.

"Sam." Bee's voice warmed the air. Sam looked up surprised. Eying Bee carefully, Sam turned to face him.

"Bee, you should be careful with your voice. It sounds really bad."

Bee didn't mind the mild reprimand. He waved Sam over to him. Without waver Sam went to his friend. Anyone else and he would have cringed and expected a verbal tongue-lashing would shortly follow. Well, at least with Bee he didn't have to worry about that, even if he wanted to. But besides that, Bee seemed to know better. Probably spending all his years with Optimus taught him that. Bee wanted Sam to sit next to him. On the cold dusty floor Sam shivered again prompting Bee to put his large hand around Sam's back. The cold metal suddenly erupted a gentle warmth. Sam looked up at his guardian. Bumblebee gave a dutiful study then drifted off to stare at a far wall. Soon his optics dimmed and fluttered. He was now busy browsing the internet. So they were still going to be distant tonight. Sam huddled up inside the warm hand and tried to make the most of it. Maybe he could try and get some sleep.

He wasn't quite able to drift into sleep when his back flared up in fire. He snapped alert and jumped forward as he felt heat still searing on his back. Bumblebee was twitching in anger as he stared off into the cyber-world.

"Bee. Hey! Bee!" Sam yelled trying to get Bumblebee's attention. Bee's servos growled in irritation of being interrupted. He reluctantly pulled away from the online world he was divulged in. But as his processors readjusted he noticed the temperature of his hand had been increasing to the level that it could have burned Sam. That was as effective as a slap to the face. He jerked to attention and whined his servos.  
"Hey, maybe you should cool it with the internet browsing." Sam patted Bee's shoulder, being somewhat cautious not knowing how hot it would be. "You're working yourself up over it." Bumblebee shifted away abashed. "It's okay bud." Sam forced a reassuring smile. He then walked up to look out over a partially tore open wall. He felt too hot now but the air would be enough to cool him off. Sam looked back to see his friend had resumed his internet rampage. Sam shook his head sadly and sighed. He then stepped through the hole and found his way to a large wooden support-beam to rest up upon. It was cold outside. Occasionally the wind would pick up and splatter the rain past the overhang slightly showering Sam. He winced and redirected his stance. Minutes past by as Sam stared off into the darkness. Outward thinking didn't seem to be going on, but perhaps deep within the recesses of his subconscious. Eventually he was able to snap out of it and he picked up his phone. He thought about calling Mikaela, and decided against it knowing that she went to sleep early now that she was working with her dad, it was already 11:45. Besides, what would he talk about. Everything that sucks? That wasn't going to help anything. He groaned and tucked his phone into his sweater pocket. His eyes widened in mild surprise as he felt a little paper card slide across his finger. He pulled it out and stared at it. He glanced back towards Bee's direction. More card staring. He brought his hands up and pinched the corners of his eyes. His hand throbbed. He just didn't know what to do. He pulled up the card and typed in the cell phone number. He'd send her a text. She probably didn't know how to respond to text messages anyways, or she wouldn't know his number and just ignore it. Inwardly though, he wanted a response. He didn't, but he did. He was so directionless maybe she could give him one.

::you there?::

He stared at his message. Send it? Close the lid? Send it? Close the lid? What the hell, send it. As soon as he touched the button he was flooded with regret. His body crooked in defeat as he heaved in a heavy breath. A blast of wind pelted rain at his body. This was stupid. And it's cold out. And wet. He turned back to return to Bee's side. Then his phone vibrated.

::Who is this?::

Oh god she responded! A flush of indiscernible emotion flooded over him. He tried swallowing it down. Whatever it was.

::Sam::

She was responding much faster than Sam.

::The kid with the robot?::

He glanced towards Bee's direction as he suddenly felt like he was committing a crime.

::yeah::

Another fast response.

::Did you want to talk?::

::Idk::

:: Do you want to talk in person?::

Sam froze. Then after a long moment, responded.

::Idk::

No reply. It dragged on. Less than a minute but it seemed like an eternity for Sam. Then his fingers went frantic on his number pad.

::Idk what to do! so muck has gone wrong lately! Bees pissd i cant go back my hand hurts liek hell i just dont kno what t do!::

Before she could reply he sent another one. :: Im babbling away to a complete stranger i'm srry i dont mean to bother u::

::No its ok. im just surprised is all. I mean y me?::

Good question.

::i guess for a diff perspective. I'm just so confused::

:: Ok. Want to call? or i can come talk in person if u want::

Sam swallowed again. The thought of talking to someone face to face seemed tantalizing. She seemed pretty nice before. She didn't rush him or pelt him with questions. What would Bee think? It didn't matter, he needed this. All other warning flags and cautions went to the wayside.

::now?::

A very long pause.

::Uh, sure I guess, r you at your dorm?::

::No in hiding:: Sam realized he didn't want to drag Bumblebee directly into this. He glanced around and decided a few buildings away should suffice. He trotted through the rain to find another abandoned building closer to the street. ::1808 Cantermound road::

Enough time passed for a map search.

::k 15 mins::

* * *

Oddly he didn't feel that apprehensive when he saw the black sedan drive on the old muck covered road. He wasn't sure if he felt relieved either though.

"Please don't go badly." He muttered to himself, almost praying. She stepped out and slammed the door shut. Unlike him, she seemed far more apprehensive. Her eyes dodged around.

"Where's your car?"

"Around." Sam stepped towards her. Head down and hands in his pocket. He walked in to a comfortable talking distance but he wasn't comfortable. Not enough to look at her eye to eye.

"So what's up?" An innocent enough question.

"It finally stopped raining." Awkward silence. Sam felt so stupid. She stood waiting for him to start. "I um, I guess," She's waiting. "I'm sorry. I just," Come on Sam! He cleared his throat. "Shit's just gone to hell, you know? I just don't know what to do about it."

"Soo, you're just going to hang out in an abandoned factory?"

"Well what else can I do?"

"Why not talk to the news stations?"

"What? No! Absolutely not!" Sam growled out in protest. His eyes now firmly fixed at her face and not her shoes.

"Why? Why not? How long have you been watched by that thing and you can't say anything. They plastered your face across the world and yet you won't go and explain to anybody why!"

"Yeah, I don't know if you missed this or not, but my roommate tried that, which is what caused this problem in the first place!"

"What caused this are giant robots coming to this planet and destroying our cities!"

Sam's eyes burned like a demon's as he shook his head at her. This was going to go badly! He then turned away beating the palm of his hands into his head cursing at himself, "Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!" He was stupid to think texting a random stranger to talk was going to go well. He kicked the building with his foot hard enough to hurt his toe. Victoria looked on. He had asked her to come out to talk, starting a confrontation with him probably wasn't the best thing to be doing to him right now.

"Sam! Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't," she sighed, "look nobody knows what's going on! Obviously you know something and it's building up because you can't tell us. I didn't mean to come down here to yell at you. I'm sorry." She walked over to him. He glared at her out of the edges of his eyes. "I'm sorry, let's try this again? Are you doing okay?" It was a stupid obvious question, but sometimes it helps to hear it. Sam grimaced without knowing what to say or do. Scream at her for being stupid, answer, or realize that with everything happening, he wasn't dying. That counts for something right? He swallowed and shook his head.

"I don't know. I just don't know. I just want things to be normal, but I can't get normal. Not anymore. No I mean, I don't mean, Bee's fine! I wouldn't trade him for the world, but," try and collect his thoughts, "whenever shit hits the fan, I end up getting caught right in the middle of it. And what happened with this robot, that's just insane. I mean Megatron was bad. Yeah, going after me and trying to cut out my brain and dragging myself halfway across the world, yeah bad. But this! This is just insane. There was no reason to attack a bunch of innocent people! And the media!" Sam threw up his hands in disbelief.

As if 'media' was the magic word, Bee's engine growled from somewhere just beyond sight. Apparently Bee snapped out of whatever distraction he was in and realized that Sam had slipped out away from his close proximity. And worse, somebody from the media was with him.

Bee roared down the old road at full speed ahead. Dust would have kicked wildly if it wasn't plastered down to the road by the rain. The engine roared as he closed in. Like a stunt devil Bee slid into a circle around while still facing them down. Gears shifted and he bolted forward again heading straight towards a terrified Victoria. Sam leaped out in front of the car's rampage. Sam stared the car down, it wasn't working, the car still blasted forward.

"Bee! Stop it!" Sam growled and slammed his hands down on Bee's hood. To Victoria's amazement it was as if Sam had swatted the car to death. The car sunk into the blow and halted to an instant stop, just inches from Sam's knees. Sam wasn't even phased. The car wasn't dead, it growled it's engine in response. "Bee, I want to talk to her, I called her here." The car squawked in retaliation while it's wheels rolled back suddenly. Sam wasn't impressed with Bee's tantrum. Bumblebee transformed out of his car form. A gear slipped poorly making a sickening grinding noise as his arm was put into place. The arm that had been reattached not too long ago. He initiated his transformation too fast and too careless, twice. He held his arm at the shoulder, and gave Sam the cold shoulder. His pride and arm hurt.  
"Bee? Hey, what has gotten in to you?" Sam called over. Bumblebee heaved a dismissive wave with his arm in regards to Sam. He turned to walk away but one step in, he changed his mind.

A racket erupted from the robot. Static and radio warbled over as Bee tried to find suitable audio clips or satellite feeds. Nothing. Then another loud intangible warbling, then hacking and coughing. Bumblebee cupped up his hand and started pounding his chin trying to jar his voice box.

"Bee, stop that!" Sam growled again, this time with even more ferociousness. He reached up and tried to stop the robot's arm. "That's not going to fix anything." The robot gave away to Sam's strength. Bumblebee pulled away from him. Victoria blinked. The scrawny, twitchy kid was staring down a fifteen foot tall robot, going head to head with it and winning?

Bee found a large slab of plywood and pried it off opening up the building to him. Sam unrelentingly followed but slipped through at a much slower pace because he didn't have the strength to hold the board and nails at bay. Bee had already crouched himself on the far wall by the time Sam made himself enough of an opening. Sam walked in watching his friend's every move.

"You want to talk?" Sam almost demanded. His phone vibrated in reply. Sam pulled it out quickly and opened it. After a moment he snorted, "It froze." Defeated once again Bumblebee slammed his head back. It hit a piece of green Plexiglas that racketed the noise through the building. "Arg! And I forgot my laptop." _Idiot_. "Wh- you know, we can fix this, yeah at the school, there's classes for sign language. Next semester I'll take a sign language course, that way we don't need to worry about, crappy phones or not having laptops and radio. Okay?" No response. Only blue optics staring off elsewhere. "Bee, come on." Sam pleaded. Bumblebee shifted his posture and rubbed at a scratch on his finger with his metallic thumb. There was so much Bumblebee wanted to say, but the radio talk was too limited and too tacky to use for the mood he was in. Plus he pushed his voice too far so it hurt to use it. Not that he could get an effective sentence out anyway. There was really no use in even trying. Sam looked at him. No response. "Fine." Sam turned away in bitter defeat. He crawled back out of the make shift door and stopped near Victoria. He looked at her and shook his head.

"He can communicate just fine. He's just upset right now." As if she had asked. His hands grabbed his face as he tried rubbing out some of his own frustration. "Asking you to come here was a mistake! It just made it worse!"

This was worse? She had expected to have to run for her life. Not watch a scrawny kid smack down a giant robot. She knew that the robot wasn't weak, but he was letting a human push it around? A moment of Sam growling at his frustration passed. Then she recalled that Sam asked her to thank his robot for risking its life. She could give it a try. After all, she was about to call 911 for a robot attack but huffing and growling didn't seem to have merit. Her bullheaded daring behavior suddenly egged her to go talk to the robot. She turned and stepped through the opening. Sam looked up in surprise and followed her.

"I know you aren't really too happy with the media right now." She cautiously stepped towards Bumblebee.

Okay. He won't hurt you. Right? Yeah right. But how often do you get a chance like this? I can do this! This provoked Bumblebee to approach her. Her chest constricted. It was standing right there! Right in front of her! Her head barely cleared the creatures knee! As if Bumblebee could read her mind, he crouched down. Yeah, that really makes this feel normal. Staring at its chest. A great, huge car bumper of a chest. Worse was that during the fight, it looked infinitesimal compared to that other robot.

He intently looked down at her. Not with eagerness, but a sense of dutiful curiosity.

"But, I just wanted to say, you do have friends out there. And I want to thank you for risking your life to try and stop that thing."

She cracked a smile. One of those 'you are the most disgusting person I have ever met but I have to be nice' kind of smiles. She managed to pull it off. Hot diggity, she could be a reporter yet. She awkwardly sprung up her hand to offer a shake. _Wow. Seriously._That was the best she could come up with, a handshake? It was a human greeting. Not exactly something to use on a creature who's hand could pick her up off the ground! She would have rather done the Vulcan V but her fingers just don't work that way. Not necessarily to her surprise Bumblebee reached down a finger and let her grasp it.

_It was warm!_It was cold out, metal shouldn't be warm! Her heart instantly froze. Bumblebee carefully pressed his thumb to the back of her hand. His delicate touch to complete the handshake. From the head down she felt like jelly. Something so powerful and so strange washed over her body. It felt like terror.

"Well. I should go." She turned abruptly and started towards her car.

"What?" Sam replied in surprise. He should have been thrilled, but her reaction went against everything he prepared for. Against everything he had expected. He flew quickly behind her. "That's it? I should go. No surprise attack? No belittling? No cramming questions down our throats? No hidden camera?"

"Hidden camera's in my bag." She swung it out in front of her as if to dare Sam to take it. Sam licked his lips and nervously glanced over at his robot friend. He stood there in silence. His shadowed body accenting his bright blue optics. Otherwise no response. She creaked her neck around and held it facing the ground. After a moment she looked up and opened the back door of her car. She tossed in the bag. Then lingered a moment over the open door. She had a moment to figure out what that feeling was. Terror? No it wasn't terror. It wasn't horror, it was-

Shock.

Not just a robot! Not an object, not an it. He was a living creature with thoughts and feelings. She claimed to have accepted that in the beginning when she heard him scream out in pain as his arm was tore off while he was mercilessly beaten down. And when she saw through Frank's video feed the robot's upset disposition when the mother started screaming at him. And just now when she seen the robot and boy have a verbal fight because they brimmed with frustration. But when she touched him, it suddenly clicked. Suddenly all those experiences she witnessed the robot go through, they now meant something. Not an it, but a him.

"Let me give you some advice, Sam." Her voice was bitter and firm. Eyebrows narrowed. Sam was listening. "People don't like what they can't control and they don't like what they don't understand. They have no control over this thing that's terrorizing them, and they don't understand your friend. If you don't want to talk to the media, Fine, but you need to tell people what's going on and give them a voice. Take your roommate's stupid site and give people a forum, or maybe a text blast. Something! If they see something strange, or you do, let them know. Let them know that they are involved."

Sam nodded and licked his lips. Not that he had any idea how that would work. Or even If. Then again, Leo did seem to be prodding Sam to help him with his website lately. As dumb as he acts sometimes, he wasn't that stupid, he'd been trying to do that all along. Victoria slammed the car door. Stewing at her own thoughts she rampaged back inside towards Bumblebee. Cautious of her actions, Bumblebee backed away from her retreating farther inside the building.

"What's his name?" Victoria looked back at Sam.

"Bumblebee."

"Bumblebee, I hope that whatever happens, happens for the best."

At that Bumblebee's optics softened on her. But only for a moment. She began talking again but Bee paid no attention to her at all. Bumblebee's sensors flicked upwards in full alert. Bee's optics started dodging skyward as he begun making raspy animal like noises as his sensors scanned the air around him. She stopped talking when she realized he was ignoring her.

"Bumblebee?" Sam questioned. He had seen this behavior only once before. Back when Bee was still on the Sector Seven's examination table. Right after he was released from the icy blasts. When he armed himself against the humans that poked and prodded him. When he was terrified of being put next to Megatron. Bee was . . . pani-

Suddenly the yellow robot lounged. Both humans screamed as Bumblebee rolled into them.

* * *

_I think my chapters are getting longer and longer :s - not that you're complaining, I'm sure._

_PS I hate dialog. Not because I think I suck at it, but because every time I think/write about it, it always threatens to tangent my story off into left field. Prob why my chapters are getting longer._

_Also I'm going to move my posting day to Fridays. FF just seem too broken on Weekends_


	7. Something's Not Right

**CH 7**

**Something's not right**

Bumblebee threw himself at Sam and Victoria. The impact made everything go vertiginous and shaky in their worlds. There was a roar of static in the air. Only one understood that something was being said.

"There you are!" A growl from the gray robot. A claw had ripped down after them, narrowly missing. Sam pulled Victoria to her feet who was shrieking that the yellow robot just attacked them. She was completely oblivious to the hand through the roof. Bumblebee's optics widened. He initiated his transformation. Hitching and running into problems as his parts didn't want to smoothly slide over each other. His driver side door and wheel parts still fought against going into their place.

"Now I'm going to finish what I started!" Static and snarls to human ears.

"Victoria you, we have to get in!" Sam screamed as a hand thrashed around. Victoria, too terrified at the sudden change in behavior in the yellow robot, still couldn't comprehend what was going on. Sam grabbed her roughly by her black jacket. "Let's go!" He pushed her towards the shaping car. She resisted until she finally noticed the large hand tear the top of the building away. Before her mind could focus farther, Sam had managed to get her in the car. He was already in the drivers seat.  
"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" The car didn't need to be told. Tires squealed. Dusk kicked. The automobile plowed out through the building as fast as his tires could spin.

"What's going on!" She screamed and her mind still failed to understand. Maybe someone else could tell her.

Static gargled through the air behind them.

"Humans. You continue to protect them? Why? Wait, that's him isn't it!" Cybertronian speech stretched out across the sky. "I knew it! You have betrayed us! You betrayed us for these worms!" A large footstep crashed to the ground. Then a bellowing, screech rattled across the sky, "Answer me traitor!"

_::COMMUNICATION LINK REQUESTED FROM USER 23948*293*125::_

_::VERIFYING::_

_::VERIFIED::_

_::COMMUNICATION LINK ESTABLISHED::_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 } That was the best Bumblebee could muster a frantic call for Optimus's attention over the communication channels.

_::COMMUNICATION LINK RESPONSE FROM USER 00563*290*032 TO USER 23948*293*125::_

{ Bumblebee, what is it? }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032::_

{ Requesting Assistance } More like 'I need your help!' But without a functioning voice articulation processor, he could only pull from basic command codes.

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 00563*290*032 TO 23948*293*125 ::_

{ I'm on my way. }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032::_

{ASAP}

Bumblebee skidded around a foot that suddenly crashed down at him. The humans screamed inside him. He bolted out of the abandoned area and blasted down the tar road. The road in front of him suddenly blew away leaving a large crater. He slid to a halt to avoid falling in. Right behind him a fist came crashing down to earth. Bumblebee rolled away just barely. He forgot how fast this guy was. Bumblebee was forced to cut across a yard and through a couple of fences. He raced towards the next closest road but before he could reach it, the creature landed down in front of him cutting off that exit as well. For as scary as Victoria thought it was to watch the battle go on from inside her helicopter, nothing in could describe how terrifying this was. Red optics glared at them on the other side of the window.

"Bumblebee watch out!" Sam shrieked. He was just as scared as she was, but he also had a look on his face that he had been through this before. He was able to keep himself more focused to look for way outs. Cannon shots blasted away large pieces of concrete. "Left left left!" Bumblebee slammed on his breaks and banked left. The building that was in front of him exploded. More explosions blasted the world around them. Concrete and fire pelted the air. Through the danger and the explosions Bumblebee didn't get a chance to navigate his route. He was barely getting by as it was. He was able to get on the road briefly. Bee didn't like that, it was way too open. He swerved around large explosions that left craters in their wake. Then the robot nearly landed on top of Bumblebee lacing a gouge at his trunk with it's claws. He spun away and headed for more cover. The Decepticon leaped at Bumblebee again, again causing Bee to divert his direction. Not long he had to change his path again as he narrowly missed a blast. A new direction. The robot jumped in front of him. A new direction! A crater. Finally he slipped through. He only had one area he could go, everything else was blocked by a thick wall of concrete. Something wasn't right!

"Oh no!" Victoria's voice trembled. This was bad. Bee was so focused at avoiding getting stomped or blasted that he didn't fully pay attention to where he went in for cover. Sam's tight grasp on the seat suddenly gave Bee an uneasy feeling. What did they notice that he didn't? White containers flashed on either side of Bumblebee. It took him a moment to run through his memory banks on what they were. Oh no! Propane! Highly explosive. Circuits couldn't help but process how bad this was. Humans were already upset by a giant robot war that took out a bridge and now they were taking out a propane depot. Bumblebee gritted his gears as he now knew the Decepticon purposely herded him here. This mechanoid had a thing for collateral damage it seems.

"Bumblebee!" Sam screamed, as the first propane tank exploded washing out his voice. Then another. Bee threw himself into turbo speed and flew away from there as fast as he could. Then the large tank went.

Bee cursed as he lost control of his wheels as he became caught up in the shock wave.

'Dammit!' The equivalent in Cybertronian.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032::

{ Invalid Syntax } Bumblebee's comms were still open to Optimus.

A roar and crackle filled the air.

"Why aren't we dead?" Victoria brought her hand to her head and tested the ooze of blood that flowed out of it. Sam winced as he picked himself up in his seat. Who knows where he'd be if it wasn't for the seat belt. He looked up and the scenery that unfolded around him was nothing more than a blur. Bee was racing as fast he could. His speed surpassing what the odometer could even say. He just barely got out of that explosion that lit up the sky behind him.

#Everyone's heads still on their shoulders?# Bumblebee asked through his radio.

"Barely." Sam took a moment to test that theory. "Watch out!" The Decepticon jet flew over head. It transformed and before fully landing launched a cannon configuration down to the pavement. A wave of green fog bellowed out. Bee screeched towards a new direction. A disruption cloud? What good would that do him? He already had uncanny sensor blocking abilities, Bumblebee couldn't even sense him when he was right on top of him. Why would he need a disruption cloud? The area became blanketed in a green fog with electricity arching inside. Then the cloud washed over Bumblebee.

"What is that?" Victoria questioned looking around at the light show through the green haze. Sam shook his head dumbfounded. The radio then screamed.

#-rmony; She blinded me with science! _She blinded me with science!_ And hit me with technology# The radio blared out at 110 decibels causing Sam and Victoria to cover their ears. The propane blast didn't make them deaf enough?

"What?" He looked forward to see Bee driving straight towards a building. "You can't see!" He shrieked. He grabbed the wheel and avoided the collision. Sam suddenly discovered he had complete control of the car.

* * *

Car. That's what Bumblebee felt like right now. What a terrifying experience! Not only was he blind, but all his other senses were wiped out as well. He could barely even feel the sensation of moving. If that was even what he was feeling. It was too numb to even tell. THAT WAS NO DISRUPTION CLOUD! They don't work this way. They're used to lay ground cover so long range and medium range sensors can't see you. They don't do anything for ocular vision unless there's a smoke screen with it. They don't smother internal sensors like this! Bumblebee frantically tried to reset his sensors. No light wave readings, no sound wave readings, no pain sensor readings, no pressure sensor readings, he couldn't read Sam's and the other human's energy signature, or his own for that matter! Nothing! What is going on! Who?-No!-

What is this thing!

"Bumblebee! This isn't a good time to tell you this! But I've been getting way too used to you driving, so you can't," he interrupted himself by screaming as a claw racked the ground in front of him. He slammed on the breaks and tried to spin the wheel. "Bee I can't drive like you!" He barely managed to bypass the hand. Victoria clenched herself into the seat. Sam's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He kept screaming at Bee to tell him what to do, only Bee couldn't hear him. "Oh geez!" Sam collided through a cement barrier. "Sorry!" He spun the wheel and tried to redirect himself back to the road, only to start fishtailing over it. He lost control and swerved a one-eighty and stopped. Which somehow caused him to avoid the oncoming fireball. Watching the energy comet fly by just a few short feet from the front and side window was just a tad too unnerving! The robot cocked his head with intrigue. Their randomness was a little hard to calculate. Sam slammed on the gas again and blasted the car forward, driving in between the Decepticon's legs. Bumblebee kept flashing bright bolts of light throughout the cab. "Bee what are you doing!" Sam could hardly see because of the strobe light effect.

'Sam what is going on!' Bumblebee wanted to scream out. Not that it would do him any good. Even if he had the voice to do so, he still couldn't get his audio sensors to come online. This was the worst thing he could ever imagine to happen to anyone. He heard humans scared at the aspect of loosing themselves in a vegetable state. How about a vegetable with a fully functioning mind and fully aware of being trapped in a lifeless body? Please, PLEASE don't be permanent! He vaguely felt something. Did he get hit? He probably wouldn't have to worry about it being permanent, he was going to die this way.

Humans shrieked. The car tumbled. Not because of Sam's driving. He was actually doing rather well once he got over the initial shock. The Decepticon had managed to get a lucky swing in. It would have crushed Bumblebee and his passengers but Sam barely managed to slide around it. It was a minor roll and with luck Bumblebee landed on his wheels again. Sam floored it just as a metal hand grabbed the ground where they landed. The creature hoovering over them sounded like it was entertained. The Decepticon was surprised on how well they were avoiding him.

But it was time to end this little game. He charged up a cannon and launched it into the ground. Blue energy spikes erupted forward. Sam screeched Bumblebee towards an partially demolished road. A shock wave rushed out and before it reached Bumblebee, Sam launched the car off of a chunk of buckled asphalt. With the car in the air the blue daggers coasted below him harmlessly. Sam seen Ironhide use that attack before. He saw what it did to tires, and though Bumblebee's wasn't air filled rubber, he bet it would still be crippling. Tires connected back to the ground and Sam cranked the wheel turning Bumblebee completely around. Edging the gas well he slid under the creatures feet and drove off in the opposite direction. Bee would have been so proud to know that he actually taught Sam some tricks. Sam couldn't help but smile as he felt like he was giving the creature a run for his money. A hysterical smile really. Above him the robot growled. The humans adapted faster than he liked. He needed to end this now.

Bumblebee's cab did a new volley of flashing lights again, this time in such extremes that Sam and Victoria couldn't see at all. Sam reacted and accidentally slammed the car wheel over and the car slid to a halt.

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 00563*290*032 TO 23948*293*125 ::_

{ Bumblebee! Why aren't you answering? }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

_::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:_

{ Ping to 00563*290*032 }

Tremendous worry spread across Optimus's spark. Bee wouldn't spam him unless it was very serious. Fifty pings per second. Something very bad was happening.

{Autobots, emergency! Converge on Bumblebee's location.) (NOW!}

Dust settled. Sam and Victoria looked up to see the giant robot eying the stalled car.

"Oh no!" Sam reached over and grabbed Bee's key. He tried to start the engine. He didn't even know why it had stopped. The robot above joined his arms together. A giant cannon for a giant robot began to whirl and flare up with energy.

"Bee come on! Bee please, please start!" His hand death gripped the wheel. This was it. The cannon, fully charged, unleashed it's flurry. The car buzzed to life and floored it out of there before the blast made it to the end of the barrel. It was all about the timing. It bought Bumblebee three seconds before the Decepticon could dismantle his arms and chase after him again. The speed that Bumblebee was putting on this time would put NOS to shame. Bee tried to set aside the terror he had experienced. He was so relieved of the aspect of being able to pull out of it. Although non of his senses were what they should be. He had a backlog of messages from Optimus, he didn't dare take a processor to examine them. Instead he needed to focus on how to avoid becoming a scrapheap hamburger sandwich.

#What am I looking at?# A calm scientific voice rumbled out of the radio. One hindrance of radio speak, it makes it harder to express true emotions when you're in a pinch.

"Uh, what?"

Sam speak louder! Song keyword search; shout it. Dammit he didn't have energy to waste on cycling through songs! He sent a flurry of white flashes coursing through his systems again, reset! Reset! Reset! At the same time, he recalculated his way to a highway and headed there. He hoped that Optimus would be close.

Road construction ahead. It could be a hindrance, yet rerouting through residential wasn't an option. Bumblebee plowed through a orange and white candy-striped sign and banked his way down a gravel made ramp. The road was lower than the surrounding landscape with several bridges running across it. He didn't have as much room to maneuver, but he had a little bit of cover. Another drawback, the road was coated in gravel. Not good because without his senses he wouldn't be able to effectively time the difference between having friction to maneuver with or not. That could mean the difference between life and death.

* * *

A sleek silver car flew by the semi-truck. Then two motorcycles, a police cruiser and a blue hybrid. The fastest of the Autobots had caught up to Optimus. They glanced over at Optimus and he nodded for them to continue ahead. An indiscernible gesture to humans. The slower Autobots wouldn't be far behind.

* * *

Sensor scans were barely giving him enough data. He floored his speed to outrun the large Decepticon. Luckily most of the construction area was clear down the center leaving him free of an obstacle course. He just needed to get to the highway.

His sensors suddenly flooded back to him. The light! The noise! THE PAIN! Going from complete numbness to full reset at max was far too much for Bumblebee to handle at once. The car screeched as it jerked and slid to a halt.

"Bee? What-?" Sam looked over the wheel. "Not this again!" Internally Bumblebee clenched as every misaligned gear, every scratch and every tear flared up in agony. The ring on his audio sensors was deafening and the flood of color to his visual sensors left dancing scorches. Sam grabbed the wheel again, looking with panicked eyes in the review mirror. There was those red optics in the distance. He floored the gas pedal. Bumblebee howled out in pain making Sam out-right cringe. "I'm sorry Bee!" Sam whimpered. He didn't have a clue what was happening to his friend and he didn't like hearing him in pain. "But we can't stop. We stop, we're dead!"

Sam was right. An explosion shook the ground to his right. Bumblebee worked through his pain receptors as Sam controlled him. He needed to get everything down to acceptable functioning levels again. The intense shock from the flood of sensory information receded enough. Bumblebee took control and headed towards a ramp leaving this area. He laced on the speed again and took off towards the highway. Behind him the Decepticon transformed into an alien jet and blasted on the speed as well. Bumblebee soared down the highway. A glint of silver brightened Bumblebee's spark. A silver mech rolling on wheels was heading his direction. Then a police cruiser. Victoria sat up in her seat. Bumblebee spun around and shifted into reverse still giving him distance but keeping watch. The cruiser transformed as Sideswipe launched himself from the ground and rolled up the Decepticon's leg.

Sideswipe used his momentum to slam down his blade into the Decepticon's chest. The Decepticon stopped his pursuit with Bumblebee and glared down at Sideswipe. Sideswipes blade didn't slice through like he expected. It made a cut but not the crippling gouge he was expecting.

"What the!" The silver mech snarled. He slammed down on the earth as Prowl shot a volley of rapid shots into the Decepticon's face. The giant growled and aimed his cannon at Prowl. Before Prowl could react and move, Arcee flew by and pushed him out of the line of fire which left a large crater behind them. The blue motorbike hung back and hastily blasted her own shots. Sideswipe prepared himself to do another melee attack. This time he was working on going all the way up to the giant's head. He swung himself until he was on top of the giant's shoulder piers. He leap down aiming for the head, only to be intercepted by a hand. A hand that then soon assailed him back to earth with an shattering crash.

Bumblebee's doors swung open and the seat belts unhinged themselves. Victoria stepped out baffled.

"No! Bee you can't!" Sam braced himself on the door frame refusing to get out. The seat shifted to push Sam out. Sam braced harder. "Bumblebee! I won't let you go!" Sam was slammed down to his hands and knees. Bumblebee started his transformation.

Back at the fight the Decepticon picked up Sideswipe again. Sides growled and grabbed his sword and smashed the blade into the Decepticon's hand. The Decepticon howled and squeezed his hold around his target's neck, trying to squeeze as hard as he could. Blasts hit his face and chest making it difficult, but he ignored them for the most part.

"Don't think so." Sideswipe hissed and shifted his blade until it hit a weak, unprotected joint on the Decepticon, severing the thumb. The giant screamed in anger. The other hand reached over to grab Sideswipe before he could free himself. Bumblebee shifted together slowly but he was determined to be included in the fight. They needed all the help they could get. That was until a powerful voice called out behind him.

"Bumblebee! Stand down!" It stopped Bumblebee cold. Optimus pulled out his gun and aimed a shot at the Decepticon's head, finally freeing Sideswipe. Dropping the gun to his back two heated blades surged from Optimus's arms as he ran forward. He jumped and slashed one blade down at the Decept's shoulder. The other went upwards towards the chest. The Decept raised one hand to block the shoulder attack. The other sword sliced into the metal. Optimus discovered what Bumblebee and Sideswipe had already learned. This Decepticon had impeccable armor. It didn't go in far enough to reach the spark. Another thing that wasn't right about this creature was when it reached up to grab the sword out of it's chest, he did so with a fully intact hand. Sideswipe stared at where the dismembered thumb joint laid. His thumb regenerated? The Decepticon held both sword blades in his hands. He pulled Optimus's arms out of battle control and slammed his head into Optimus's. Then released the blades and clubbed his fists into Optimus's face. Optimus flew back and landed in a grassy ditch near Bumblebee. His voice escaped in surprise. Ironhide, Ratchet and Hound were catching up to enter the fray. The Decepticon growled and transformed. Dismayed, Optimus rolled back to his feet.

"Stop him!" Optimus yelled.

Arcee and Chroma leaped to try and grab the jet. Chroma missed and Arcee got her digits around a raspy protrusion, but it was too weak of a grasp. As soon as the jet blasted and twisted to shake her off, she was flung towards the ground. Prowl raced up and grabbed her before she hit the dirt.

"Returning the favor." He remarked. Arcee pushed away as she got to her wheel to watch the Jet fly off.

"Not again!" Ironhide growled out as he just reached Optimus. The others shifted uneasily as they could only watch as the jet quickly faded from view. They glanced at each other. Sideswipe roared and planted his weapon into the concrete.

"How do we stop him if he keeps running away like this!" Sideswipe vented with frustration.

"Hmph. I wonder if he's even a Decepticon. He's too much of a coward!"

Ratchet approached and surveyed the damage. He ran a cursory scan on Arcee. She had minimal damage. He redirected to Sideswipe.

"I'm fine. Worry about him!" Sideswipe's finger snatched forward pointing at Bee's direction. Bee's sensors flicked up. _Oh, great_. Sam behind him stepped back far away. Victoria not knowing why but assuming the worse, followed. Ratchet turned and glared at Bumblebee.

"What a fine mess you're into." Ratchet growled as he approached Bumblebee. Not at all impressed to see even more damage on Bee's hide. "Hold still." He directed as he grabbed Bumblebee's arm and raised it up. Once raised above his head Bee squawked and tried to resist it. Lasers started suturing the metal. He angled it and stitched that as well. At satisfactory levels Ratchet moved onto the next injury. Rotating or moving parts until Bumblebee snarled in protest.

The language shifted to Cybertronian on account of the strange human nearby.

"Optimus, something's not right with that Decepticon!" Sideways sneered. He glanced over at the Decepticon's severed finger. "He regenerated his digit after I severed it. A full digit in just a few seconds!"

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Hmm. I must admit his armor was stronger than anything I recall ever coming across." Optimus shifted into thought.

#I told you!# A smug kid's voice streamed from Bumblebee's radio. Sideswipe gave Bumblebee an unfriendly glare. Sideswipe narrowed his optics before looking back at Prime. He wouldn't say it or even let on that he thought it but he respected Bumblebee just a tad more. He took this powerhouse on by himself and continued to fight it even when he saw he couldn't effectively damage it. Even if the Decepticon was the biggest coward he had ever witnessed, he was a tough coward with a lot of fire power.

Ratchet found a new sore to poke and prod. Bumblebee vented out in frustration as he was forced to deal with it. At a distance Sam shuttered inwardly, just minutes ago Bumblebee seemingly went off line, he returned but seemed fidgety and slow to react. If that wasn't bad enough, out of nowhere he suddenly stopped and cried out in pain. _Throb_. Sam threw his hand back in his sweater pocket and stepped back farther. If it was important, Bee would relay the information. He inwardly glared at himself for being so secretive and not saying anything to get his friend help. But then again, Bumblebee didn't look like was particularly enjoying the aid.

#It doesn't go that way!# Bumblebee's radio protested as Ratchet had his door wing clasped and twisted in an unnatural position. Ratchet twisted it farther, provoking a yelp and a glare from Bumblebee.

"Well it serves you right." Ratchet muttered. Behind him Optimus and the others were still conversing in Cybertronian. Ratchet wasn't paying attention. Bumblebee was trying to, amid the flinching, protesting and squawking he was doing. "Bumblebee, transform, please." The tender wing was released. Bumblebee did as he was told and at every hitch and pause, Ratchet intervened and went scalpel crazy.

"His fighting skills did seem to be lacking."

"Lots of strength and speed. But you're right, no skill."

Optimus turned to Bumblebee, "Bumblebee, report." The yellow Camaro, who had been completely distracted as he hissed at Ratchet to remove his tools out of sensitive sensors snapped to attention. It was time to be a soldier now. He packaged his information carefully; the Decepticon was right on top of him and he couldn't sense him, the audio file that Bee recorded as the Decepticon was screaming at him, the propane explosion and the disruption cloud. It took a couple minutes to stitch the pieces together and using an online instant messaging channel to add his thoughts.

The group went silent as Optimus scanned through the package.

"Hmm. Bumblebee, I'd like to have a word with you." Optimus stepped away from the others. Bumblebee's spark stasised. Talk? Alone? Bumblebee waited for Ratchet to finish, transformed and followed quietly behind Optimus. His soldier face was on even though he was really dreading this conversation.

Optimus sighed easing the tense mood into a completely uncomfortable one.

"I am in a bit of a bind right now." Optimus spoke keeping his voice low and in their native language. "We haven't been able to track the Decepticon's spark signature and he's been able to slip past our detections. Like you, we simply can't sense him. I have no choice but to put as many of my soldiers out as I can as ground troops. This, will unfortunately leave the human base unprotected against a Decepticon assault." Bee studied Optimus not sure where he was going with this. "And as you know, the humans did not perceive us very well." A thoughtful but ire pause, "I don't know how well they will react if I send you back and they discover you were the prime target of tonight's attack." Optimus's fingers reached up to brace the bridge of a feature that looked similar to a nose. A trait he mimicked from humans to help them think. Not entirely sure if it was effective or not, but he picked it up as a habit now. "Unfortunately I don't have much of a choice now that I know he specifically targeted you. He may do so again. But I wanted to get an idea as to where you stand."

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:

{ Objective: Protection of charge: Samuel James Witwicky }

"Do you still believe it is necessary?"

Bumblebee cycled through his audio clips again and packaged what he needed.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032:

_{ "Humans. You continue to protect them? Why? Wait, that's him isn't it! I knew it! You have betrayed us! You betrayed us for these worms! Answer me traitor!"_

_"Twenty seven people! Twenty seven people are dead!"_

_"No no no! PLEASE STOP!"_

_"I'm going to start breaking bones! And I'm not going to stop until I have a broken bone for every person that died!" }_

Optimus vented out air with an exhausted look in his optics. "I'll need to make arrangements." He stepped past the small yellow Autobot. He glanced over at Sam and saw that the woman from the media was hiding behind him. His optics drifted forward, an orange blaze decorated the sky at a distance. Bumblebee followed behind. Again he transformed, taking his time so he wouldn't undo everything Ratchet just fixed.

"Absolutely not!" Ratchet objected catching exactly what Bumblebee was doing. Optimus turned to see that Ratchet's objection stopped Sam cold from sliding into Bumblebee's seat. "Let somebody else watch over the boy. You are too injured!"

"It is his choice." Optimus Prime defended.

"And a suicidal one at that."

"Ratchet!" Prime scolded.

"He needs his rest. Not gallivanting around the country side. Besides, I think the two of them have done enough damage the way it is."

"The attack wasn't their fa-"

"I'm not talking about that! But you know as well as I do that this will only make the matters worse! You know what's going to happen when-"

"Alright, calm down, calm down." Optimus raised his hands up to halt Ratchet's speaking. There was already enough tension, there was no reason to bring up more. Optimus turned back to look at Victoria. She was trying to make herself look as invisible as possible. Sam was at his car leaving her completely alone. The giant blue and red robot rested his hands on either side of her at a quarter of a football field length across and leaned his head down. "We are able to escort you back to wherever it is you need to go." He glanced back and Ironhide was already in his vehicle form. He rolled up closer to her. She shook her head gathering her strength to speak.

"No. I'll go with Bumblebee, but that's it!" Shaky yet demanding. Optimus raised to his feet and vented air. Nothing can ever be easy. He blinked and nodded. Ratchet stepped forward to protest but Optimus waved him down.

"Ironhide?" Optimus addressed his friend waiting for a response to make sure he got the packaged instructions. Ironhide started his diesel engine in conformation. Bumblebee started his engine after receiving his package. _Young bots!_ Ratchet shook his head at Bumblebee and Optimus. And Ironhide rarely ever puts up a protest unless it's strategically dire to do so. He reluctantly stepped back to give them room to leave. Optimus turned to Sam. "Sam, Lennox has been trying to get a hold of you. You need to contact him as soon as you can." Sam nodded. Victoria slowly made her way to Bumblebee's passenger door. The car quietly drove around the towering robots and headed down the beaten road.

*Notes*  
(Everything I read about with the conundrum of Bee's communication is that the com link with the other Autobots is unfeeling and difficult to convey emotion. I'm holding that to fire and I can't think of anything more in direct in line with that than attempting to learn flash script) _Invalid Syntax! Invalid Syntax!_ SCREW YOU! _Invalid Syntax._ DX *Seriously.  
And yep, my chapters aren't getting any shorter.

so One day was playing around with this awesome feature in VLC, plastering TF screenshots ALL over my computer. When I was amused by the, Spring Attack Laser Scalpel to Bee's throat, pics. Unbeknownst to me, my husband was looking at my screen. And he was all 'I hate that part!' Which prompted me to look at him with full WTF! He continued, 'It's so stupid! Why would he do that?' And I'm all like: 'Uh, cuz it's Ratchet, it's what he does! And It's an AWESOME scene!' Wasn't sure if he believed me or not. Today we watched an episode of TF G1, (Btw, I can't believe how dopey cartoons were back in the day) and Ratchet was fixing up Ironhide. And Ratchet's all 'I'm gonna take you apart! Don't complain! STFU or I'll disconnect your voice!' Which he then did anyways. XD I looked back at my husband and he had a dopy grin on his face. I think he's okay with the scene with the spring attack laser scalpel now**.**

* * *

_Thank you for those detailed reviews, they really help me make sure my story is heading the way I hoped. Plus I really, really enjoy reading them!_

_They make me feel all warm and evil inside knowing you're in suspense :D _


	8. Maturing Friendships

**CH 8**

**Maturing Friendships**

The streets were ablaze with red and blue flashing lights and noise as firetrucks flew by. Bumblebee did his best to detour around the propane fire.

Victoria sat quietly as she took this all in. Her thoughts snapped onto something that suddenly made her feel extremely awkward. She was inside an alien robot! She squirmed in her seat and rolled her head around taking in the interior of the car. It looked like a perfectly normal interior, outside of the scratches and cuts that looked like strange cut outs. The tore seats weren't filled with the usual foam padding. In appearance it looked like it, but the tear itself looked metallic. She almost slipped her fingers in to test the texture when she caught herself. Jabbing her fingers inside somebody's wounds wasn't a very valiant gesture. Would the car even be able to feel it? He could feel pain, but just how sensitive was he? She glanced over at Sam. He was absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over the seat belt strap. Her glance lingered into a stare. Sam reached over and rubbed his hand over Bumblebee's dashboard, being very careful to avoid any scratches. The engine shifted sounds as if acknowledging the sensation. Victoria tensed up again. She. Was. Inside an alien robot!

"Bee, you okay?" Sam's voice startled her. The engine noise shifted again, this time it sounded more stressed.

#I think so.# Bee found a clip with a suitable tone to it. In reality, he didn't really think so. He mulled over Optimus's packaged report. He was very troubled with what it entailed.

"What was that green cloud? What did it do to you?" Sam's voice cracked with worry. Victoria looked around wildly as the car began to quietly tick.

The radio came back to life, this time it was barely audible. #I don't know.# The car had decelerated since Sam had asked the question. Sam stared at Bumblebee with pleading eyes. Another clip was pulled and played on the radio. This time from a trembling girl's voice. #It scared me.# The car accelerated again but he barely reached the speed limit. Sam reached over again and rested his hand on the dashboard. Victoria felt very awkward. Not because she was inside an alien, but because these two just went through a troubling moment together, she felt like she was intruding. She was too overloaded to feel distraught or emotional right now. She exhaled quietly and her eyes caught Sam's hand. Her eyes widened. She waited a few minutes before saying anything about it.

"What happened to your hand?" Victoria spoke quietly. Sam's fingers were swollen and verging to black and blue. It was obvious that it wasn't just a coffee burn. She intruded on the quiet moment.

"Nothing." Sam grimaced and tucked it out of sight. He was hiding his injury?

"Sam!" Bumblebee chastised getting one word out before his vocalizer washed over with static. Then the hacking noise followed. Bee was inwardly upset for not catching the injury himself. He had been too focused on other things. It was his job to protect Sam and Sam got hurt under his watch! Victoria realized that Sam had been hiding his hand from his car. "Y- - - -" The car struggled, "Rat-tch-"

"I didn't want Ratchet to see it! Optimus either!" The car tried to protest but his voice wasn't obeying, the light on the radio popped on, Sam expecting it, was quick to jab the power button off again. "I don't want to disappear under witness protection okay!" The car made a strange noise that could only be perceived as upset. Acceleration stopped and the car veered towards the yellow line. "Bee pay attention to the road!" Sam snapped. Instantly feeling guilty as the words slipped out. He could have simply taken control instead of snapping. Victoria could only stare at the interaction. The connotations were not lost on her however. There was a strange radiation of sadness emanating from the car. She couldn't place her finger on how, and she could have been imagining it, but she was inside an alien robot, anything's possible.

"How did it happen?" She asked. There must be a reason between their tense dispositions. Did the robot do something accidentally. Sam disregarded her question.

"S-sam." Bumblebee's voice stammered. #You should come back with me,# #I'm worried about you kid# #You can fit into-# # -can't go there# "W- g-t th h h h- Dec- , hi-m -t I c ca -a -a-a-n't prot-t" Bee's voice gave out on him. Bumblebee went silent for a moment in frustration. #I can't save-# # -from man himself!#

The Camaro pulled up to the building and slowed to a stop.

"So much for being normal." Sam reached for the door, but before Bumblebee could lock it Sam slid his thumb into the lock space. Bumblebee couldn't lock it without crushing Sam's thumb.

"S-am -'m s-s-s-so-rr-y." Bee's fought the pain to get those words out.

"It's okay Bee, I get it." Sam opened the door to stepped out. Despite Bumblebee's protest the door swing open for him. Not without a little bit of resistance first. At any point Bumblebee would have whimpered, but he was in car form so he couldn't grind his servos together. So he whined his voice but it warbled out funny and he didn't get the desired result. Sam didn't seem to be listening anyways.

Victoria stepped out as well. "So having a technologically advanced robot car isn't as great as it's all cracked up to be, huh?"

Sam sat down at the edge of the hood. Bumblebee sagged down on his chases so much that even Victoria could notice it.

"Everything's fine, Bee." He consoled but his voice sounded dry. He drifted back into thoughts. It didn't come crashing on him like a ton of bricks or a crushing tidal wave. Instead it was something that had always been there. "I get it," he repeated. His hands spread out over Bee's yellow and black hood avoiding the mars. "You know, I grew up pretty spoiled, being an only child and all. Even after everything I've been through, I'm still a pretty selfish kid. You know, I have this super advanced robot for a friend who takes me anywhere, listens to my dumbest of rants, protects me from all the scary things that go bump in the night and from jock's with big chips on their shoulders," Sam shook his head, "yet I still keep complaining about what I don't have. All this time I just wanted to live my life like any normal human being would. But with you, the Autobots and the stuff that's floating in my head I- yeah, I just wanted to be normal. But, what about you Bee? What about all the shit that you went through? I mean, the stuff I went through isn't even a drop in the bucket to all the horror Megatron put you through. And. I never stopped to think that maybe you just wanted a normal life too." Bumblebee's jerked in surprise at Sam's revelation. "You'll never get to have a normal life! I mean, you lost your planet, your people, all your friends, your family. You, you're stuck on a planet where almost nobody understands you. Whatever you do here on Earth I'm sure it isn't what you used to define as normal. You either hang out with me and be my," Sam rolled his eyes, "possession, my car, or you're holed up in some military bunker garage somewhere, where the only time you're allowed out is when you're off chasing Decepticons." Sam lost himself in his thoughts. "I'm pretty sure that you don't want to spend the rest of your life fighting. At a drop of a hat you'd go and risk your life for a bunch of snot nosed pricks who would end up hating you for it, but you'd do it." Sam choked down some of his feelings. He turned to face his car. "And for what?"

The car didn't do or say anything. He didn't want to think about the 'for what'. Bumblebee filed Optimus's package at the back of his cache. Sam was watching him carefully, waiting for a response. This wasn't what Bumblebee was expecting. Arguing and fighting, sure, or even silence on account of the other human's presence. But not a brutally understanding moment. Sam getting no response turned his gaze inwardly.

"Bee, I almost lost you. It really scared me."

If Bumblebee could swallow down emotions, he would have. Instead there was a quiet hum deep inside the engine, #I guess that makes us even.#

"Yeah well, that kind of makes my point though. One of them. Look Bee, I honestly wouldn't trade any of it for the world. I mean, no sacrifices no victory, right? You are my victory Bee. It's just that-" Sam went silent for a moment. "I know that you go through this all the time, and I hate it that you hide it from me. We're in this together. Okay? And you're, you're always such a pillar of strength for me, I just wish I was the same for you." Bumblebee was quiet, but a flush of warmth touched Sam's features. Sam sniffled. It wasn't very often he poured his heart and soul out about how he felt about Bumblebee. Especially in the company of a stranger. Speaking of which, "Victoria, I'm so sorry that this happened to you. This whole, getting chased, nearly crushed, blown up mess." Ah, she failed at being invisible again. And he felt so guilty he couldn't even look at her.

"It's okay. I came back in one piece."

"Yeah." He sighed. "In case you haven't figured out. This is why I have a guardian. And no it's not because of some protection money type thing, or some bribe. He's just, my friend, who watches over me."

"You know, I could get you into a real interview. One where nobody would attack you like O'Neil did."

"uh," Sam wavered. "I don't know. I think we caused enough problems the way it is."

"But I told you already, those problems exist because nobody knows about you. Nobody knows the, nobody sees this bond between you that I've seen tonight." Victoria watched Sam for the longest time. She could see he wanted to find a hole to crawl into. She thought for a moment. Maybe she could ask a question to lighten the mood, "How did you even get a friend like Bumblebee anyways?"

Sam didn't say anything. He stared off into Bumblebee's yellow as his finger danced out little shapes. In a strange twist for the mood he was in he chuckled, "Would you believe that I bought him." A weak smile appeared on his face. "Well, actually half. My dad paid for the rest." Warm memories flooded over him. His finger traces were swept up by his hand running across the metal.

"Wait, so you just bought a brand new alien Camaro? Where the hell would you get something like that? That must have been . . . expensive." Okay kid, seriously where do you go to buy alien robots at!

Sam's smile was wide now. "Uh, no. I uh, I bought a seventy-eight piece of shit Camaro! Yeah at a uh, used car lot. Rust, faded paint, the works. With a radio that would just, randomly turn on and play the cheesiest music, the cheesiest of music you've ever heard of! And at the worst times too, right. Like, make out music. Then the engine would just die right at Lover's Peak lookout when I was trying to give this really hot girl a ride home! I paid two grand, quirks were to be expected." His smile spread like an infection. Bee's mood lightened as well. His radio erupted out in music.

# Let the good times roll; Let them knock you around; Let the good times roll; Let them make you a clown; Let them leave you up in the air; Let them brush your rock and roll hair; Let the good times roll; Let the good times rolla'ho; Let the go-od ti-mes ro-ll#

Sam enjoyed the music for a moment. "I uh, can't lie, the radio still plays the most cheesiest shit you'll ever hear in your life." At this the radio changed stations.

#Delelelele-ing, Boopde boop de doop . . . Boopde boop de doop. .-#

Sam's hand slammed against the hood. "Don't you dare!" He scolded playfully. Bumblebee's engine rumbled in an equally playful defiance.

# -ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Banana phone-#

"Oh no!" Sam buried his head in his hand. "Oh hey, Bee. Which reminds me, we totally need to get Leo back for that moronic decision of his that made us look bad."

#What did you have in mind.#

"I don't know. I was thinking maybe wiping out his entire mp3 collection and replacing it with show tunes or something.

#Weak!#

Their scheming was ended quickly when Victoria burst out in a chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just standing here, watching his boy and his robot."

#Everybody needs a robot- something I have always said. Everybody needs a friend who's got a shiny metal head-#

"Beeeee!" Sam protested. Bumblebee plays this song way too much. Regardless, Sam gave up and started mumbling along with the lyrics.

#-robots never seem to care; if you stay out 'till one.#

"Sam. I'm serious though." Victoria interrupted. The music died down. "Do an interview. At least think about it."

Sam sighed. "What do you think Bee?

#It's all up to you, kid!# #They're Heeere!# #-and everybody knows it.# #-esides,# "Optim-mus-s d-didn't k-k-kill me."

A flint of worry crossed over Victoria's face. The warm voiced red and blue robot? He seemed friendly though. Would he really kill Bumblebee over an interview. Is that why they refused to do one? A knot rose in her stomach. Sam on the other hand, understood Bumblebee's befuddled attempt. He smiled and looked at his car.

"Nope, he didn't. I don't think he would have anyways. But I was sure he was going to tear you a new one."

A moment of silence.

"T-tear-r n-n one?" Bumblebee poured his thoughts into the supposed statement.

"Yep." Sam's smile broadened.

"Wh-a" #What's the difference?# The car questioned with honest curiosity. Sam's smile continued to widen as he shook his head. The nuances that riddled the humans language were so ingrained that he couldn't actually explain the differences. He wasn't even sure there were any. So he decided to simply opt out.

"Ah, maybe you'll figure it out some day." He patted his hand a couple times on Bee's hood.

Bumblebee twitched on his wheels, not sure what to think.

A bewildered smile finally crossed over Victoria's face. "You're teasing him!" She brightened again. Sam looked up red handed.

"No I'm not!" He protested as if he was innocent.

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Bee don't let him teach you such bad idioms."

"Pft. Trust me, there are Autobots out there who are much worse."

Victoria's interest peaked. "Oh really?" She stepped up closer. Bumblebee slid back on his tires a little causing surprise in both Sam and Victoria. Bumblebee had to cut the chat short. It was getting too late.

#Sorry.# #'But I'm not sleepy!' 'Yes, you are.'# #I need to take a breather.# Sam gave a curious look to his car. Bumblebee cycled for a more specific clip to use. #I am exhausted.#

"Shit, I'm sorry, Bee!" Sam slid off of Bumblebee while looking him over. Bee's lights were dim both interior and exterior and he was slumped weakly on his tires and chases. "Yeah." Sam turned to Victoria. "Bee needs to rest. And I think he deserves it."

Victoria nodded and smiled even though she was disappointed. She wanted to stay and chat. She was exhausted as well, but she was also wired. This was by far the most interesting thing she ever witnessed in her entire life. Still, Sam was right. The car had done most of the grunt work and took almost all of the damage they had between them.

"Okay. Sam you have my card. Let me know if you change your mind about an interview okay?" She nodded goodbye and stepped out to her car. After seeing that it was in once piece she realized how easily it could have _not_been. Hairs stood up on end at the sound of a diesel engine idling behind her somewhere. As much as Bumblebee was growing on her, the black robot sent shivers up her spine. She got into her car and drove off. Her mind reeling about the events of that night.

* * *

Message from Bumblebee: Ironhide?

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Bumblebee, why are you pestering me with that? }

Message from Bumblebee: Um. Because it's the only way I can effectively make a conversation, Duh.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Well I'll read it but I won't use it. I hate trying to write in human }

Message from Bumblebee: You mean English? And it wouldn't be a problem if you would just stop writing in all CAPS! :D

Snort'

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ They don't use English on those things. That last thing you typed isn't even a word! Anyway what do you need? }

Message from Bumblebee: Sam has an injury. I need to take him to a hospital.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Ratchet can see to his injuries. }

Message from Bumblebee: I know, but Sam doesn't want Ratchet or Optimus to know about it.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Why? }

...

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Bumblebee. }

...

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ Stop being difficult! }

Message from Bumblebee: Humans did it.  
Message from Bumblebee: Sam doesn't want to be hidden away by the Secret Service.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 10956*240*153 TO 23948*293*125 ::

{ At this point that's inevitable. He's going to have to- }

Message from Bumblebee: Ironhide PLEASE!

Message from Bumblebee: If it's inevitable, then please let us have our last moments in peace.

* * *

Sam had watched Victoria leave. Now that she was gone he returned back to his car. Like clockwork the door popped open for him.

#Call your doctor today to see if Paxil is right for you!# The radio beamed out.

"Nice, Bee." Sam remarked sarcastically as he climbed in. To his surprise the car started up. "Oh." Sam got the radio blurb now.

* * *

_Song list!_

_Let the good times roll - the cars (I burnt out my step-moms record player over this record XD | That's right. I said record! 80's rock and roll )_

_Banana phone – Raffi ( This song is in my collection to annoy my husband with. Yes, it's that obnoxious )_

_Everybody needs a robot - Matthew Ebel ( I lub my Pandora. I recommend looking for this song on the guys website)_

_*Notes* Okay, more like a notey rant. This little 'Sam gets it' moment is brought to you by the sheer 'WTF, Sam is just as immature and selfish as ever! Did he not learn anything from Mission City?' that I felt while watching TF 2 RoTF. The focus of this chapter was actually written right after the Bumblebee bridge encounter. I had no story then, just musings. This 'get it' was actually what provoked me to including Sam which turned into Ch 2, breaking the bridge scene apart into Ch 1 and the first half of Ch 3, put a lot of thought into Sam and theoretically explain some of the jerkish behavior he exhibited from the movie and overall flushing out this story._

_Then to my dismay around writing ch 5, (rant time) I came across this little charm in my comic book store, The description of Tales of the Fallen Issue 1:_  
_An all-new mini-series set in the Movie universe launches here!_

_Nearly two years after saving the planet, Sam Witwicky has grown up. It's too bad his friend BUMBLEBEE hasn't. With their friendship strained, Sam sets out for an evening devoid of alien interference. Little does he know that he's being watched. Without his robotic protector, can he beat the DECEPTICONS?_

_EXCUSE ME? Sam has grown up while Bumblebee hasn't! In defense to the comic Most of it fits Bee pretty well. It's either Bee tries to help, Bee not getting basic human rules and ROBOT FIGHT! There's only one line that doesn't mesh well with Bumblebee in the comic, and the reasoning behind it is just stupid. He's suddenly 'impulsive' now because he was away from Optimus and the others for too long (2 years) Um HELLO! 4 years alone on earth! Away from Optimus! You think every second of those 4 years was nothing BUT scouting and recharge? Arg! (Impulsive is very Hotrod btw. Which from my understanding WAS originally going to be Bumble in the movie. Thank the Primes they went with Bee instead. I hate Hotrod :(( But I thought something was telling in the comic, Sam still pretty much takes advantage of Bumblebee with no regard. Jerk. And the comic book description that bashes Bee seems to give a pretty good inkling on how people would dehumanize Bee. Seems to fit!_

_I also seen a forum on here suggesting that Bee had 'grown up' in the 2nd movie. Bah. Bumblebee's personality type is more like the type who grows up fast when having to do things such as, FIGHT IN A WAR! Being light hearted !=(not equal) immature Same as brooding != maturity. And it would seem to me that Bee's brooding was perfectly acceptable considering that his charge was seriously blowing him off. Oh and, ya, Optimus dies. And Bee's stuck with freaking Mudflap and Skids, Simmons, and Leo. If I was him, I'd start bashing the twins' heads in sooner, threatening to dissect Simmons and leave Leo out in the middle of the desert. See that only proves my point that Bumblebee was already mature._

_I wrote up my rant in the one of the forums, but ff was broken that day and it never got published. SO Rant here instead. And my note section is about as long as my first chapter now. :P_

_OMG WTF! WHY DOES FF always take out my breaks! Have you seen how excessively annoying I made them? IT was supposed to be so they STAYED PUT! ARG!_

_0rae-084tq09-4utgo arutq39-48tyq irfhq937845ryq298fh a p9o84ytr0qw98y ttq ay35092816 509q87f -NOW STAY!_


	9. Not Everyone

**Ch 9**

**Not Everyone**

Lennox answered the phone to Sam's surprise. This early in the morning? Oh well yeah, alien attack half an hour ago, but with the shock, Sam couldn't manage to get his voice to say hello. Yeah right, he was talking to Major William Lennox, head of NEST. The human head honcho to the Autobots. Sam wouldn't have found his voice if he was talking about balloons for a surprise party. That wasn't true either. Sam just didn't want to hear Lennox tell him his life was over.

"Sam." Lennox's voice stung.

"Yeah." Sam squeaked out weakly.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for days!"

Sam swallowed. His voice warbled but nothing intelligent came out.

"From now on, if I call. You answer the damn phone. No excuses unless you're dead. You got me?"

"Yeah," squeak.

"Yeah well, the longer it took for me to get a hold of you, the worse shit hit the fan." Lennox audibly sighed, "Big shit storm. Sam is there somewhere safe you can go for now?"

"I'm here with Bumblebee, what's safer than that?"

"Right now, not very. That Decepticon that attacked you went specifically for Bumblebee."

"So, It wasn't after me?"

"Well, he recognized you, so he is now. Look I have to find a safe place to put you until we get this thing taken care of.-"

"No, you're not putting me in witness protection!"

"Sam!"

"Look, I don't want to disappear! I don't want to leave-"

"Sam! Calm down. Look I'm trying to find a way to get you on base." Sam clenched his fist and brought it up to his eyes. Didn't want that option either. "The most important thing is for you to lay low for a while. And Sam, I have some bad news. When we get this guy, the President wants the Autobots to leave the planet. All of them."

Something somehow ripped the air from Sam's chest. "What?" Sam stammered. "But, that's, that's-"

"Yeah, I know. But with the hysteria that's going on there really isn't-"

"No. There is something! And I can't lay low. Not now. Look I talked to that helicopter pilot. She can help me get interviews. Interviews where I won't get attacked like that first jackass. I need to do those, if people understood what was going on out there, you know, maybe even be able to help-"

"Sam wait-"

"Lennox please! I have to try. You know, I'm the one that's stuck in both worlds, I'm not just going to sit back and do nothing. I need to do something, our friends deserve that much!"

Lennox was silent on the other end. It was his call and he couldn't help but agree with Sam. Besides, to suggest that Sam couldn't talk to the media now was a little absurd.

"Alright, let me give you some parameters on what you can and can't say, okay?"

Sam nodded dumbly at the phone.

Sam scribbled down what he couldn't say about NEST. Most of it didn't even seem applicable. For example: Sideswipe's landfall up to the point of him joining the Autobots was not to be mentioned. Sam didn't even know who Sideswipe was. The silver one. The one that seemed to be a diligent fighter. Okay well, outside of Mudflap and Skids, they were all diligent fighters. Okay, so the extent of his knowledge of Sideswipe was, he was silver. His penmanship wasn't great, his swollen fingers made it worse, but he made sure he got it down pat. He couldn't screw this up. The conversation with Lennox dwindled off. Sam mumbled his okays and then hung up. He glanced back behind him. The parking lot that Bee and Ironhide nestled themselves in was scarcely lit. Of course they were parked back quite a ways. Most of the lot was already full and even though it was too early in the morning, three groups of people went in or out through the door during his phone call. Sam stepped out from the concrete awning. He inhaled to brace himself and walked in.

"Name please." The plump receptionist with a scowl on her face stared at her papers. When she wasn't getting a response she looked up at Sam. Sam quickly diverted his face away.

"Sam." Sam's voice was quiet. "Witwicky." He rushed his last name and then started spelling it out for her before she could ask. "W-I-T-W-I-C-K-Y."

The name seemed lost on her.

"Can I see some ID and your insurance card?"

Sam exhaled as he stalled. He quickly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his information and handed it to her. Sam cautiously glanced around at the waiting room. There was a good number of people in here. Luckily for him, most were asleep. She scrawled some information down and returned his card with a package of papers.

"Have a seat please."

Without protest Sam walked to his seat. He paused for a moment to say something, and decided against it. He sat down scanning over his surroundings.

Ten minutes passed and the scenery didn't change. Sam twitched then jumped to his feet and rushed the receptionist desk. She braced herself and prepared her usual 'Sir, you have to be patient' line.

"Um, I never actually been in a hospital like this, I mean yeah like once when I was eight when my arm was, anyways I wasn't paying attention then so is this like waiting in a clinic? I'm kind of assuming it is so are you going to be calling names out when the doctor or nurse or whoever-"

"It will be a few minutes, the hospital is over crowded right now so you'll just have to wait."

Sam licked his lips while nodding his head. Though there wasn't too many people out in the lobby, the bridge incident must have flooded the hospital beds.

"Yeah, um. Anyways. I was kind of wondering if-when you call on me, that you um, don't actually use my name."

The strange request drew her eyes up towards him. He was watching her face before realizing he was avoiding eye contact with the world. He dropped his eyes and fidgeted in place. The look she gave him burned into his brain. Did it finally click in her brain who he is?

"I'll see what I can do." She replied. Her tone was just as starch as before.

"Okay Sam, X-rays don't show anything serious." He sat down on the stool in front of him as he set his clipboard down. He then turned to reach out for Sam's hand. Sam glanced towards the door to see a police officer standing there. In panic Sam bolted to his feet.

"Wha- wh-t" Sam stammered.

"Easy son." The officer addressed him.

"You're going to arrest me!" Sam freaked. "But I didn't do anything! No! I mean, okay yeah there was the propane thing but it wasn't my fault!" Sam held his hand out defensively. A habit, and one that illustrated perfectly how Sam's hand was injured in the first place.

"Kid." The officer stepped forward.

"No, no no. You can't arrest me, putting me in jail- you might as well put me in a maximum prison. They'll kill me!" Sam backed away from the uniformed man approaching, forgetting that behind him was the stool he had been sitting on. He stumbled over it knocking it over. The doctor slipped to his feet and stepped back.

"Take it easy!" The officer reached out. This caused Sam to wilt back farther, completely tripping over the stool and flailing backwards. He landed up against a curtain and his weight threatened to rip it off it's hooks. He stumbled to his feet. He looked like a colt on a new pair of legs.

"Sam. I'm not here to arrest you."

It helped calm Sam down a little bit. But his eyes were still wild. He then realized what an idiot he must look like.

"Yeah okay. I'm, I'm sorry. I've just been under a lot of _stress_ lately. My life has been hell! These last few days and, and," Sam brushed and tried straightening out the curtain, "I guess I'm a little - twitchy." Understatement of the century.

The officer knelt down and righted the stool. "Why don't you sit down." His voice was stern but tried to be friendly.

"Okay." Sam mumbled quietly and did as he was told.

The doctor and the officer exchanged glances. The police officer pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"Why don't you tell me what happened." He left it vague for Sam to fill in the gaps. Hopefully about the propane explosion. The officer was actually here for another reason, but a peaking interest that Sam was in the heart of the explosion instantly deemed more important. Sam relayed the event. He was riddled with guilt and tried to emphasize that the large Decepticon purposely tried to use the explosion to kill them as well as make things difficult for every one else. Oh and that this wasn't his or his car's fault! Sam especially didn't like the part when he had to confess that the coward fled again. It put him in solemn silence as the officer scribbled his notes down. He reached down and stopped his recording device. Which to Sam's surprise and dread, didn't even notice him turning it on. His stomach knotted into a constricted clump and he didn't dare to look up. He could sense that the doctor and officer were staring at him in shear disbelief. The officer picked up his radio and walked out of the room.

"Well, let's look at that hand then."

Sam stayed in his own world until the officer returned.

"Okay Sam." The door snapped shut again. The noise felt like a lightening bolt striking Sam's senses. "Now, would you like to talk about what happened to you're hand?"

My hand? The doctor called in a police officer over my hand? Apparently on a hunch that robot boy came in injured, it might be justification to call the cops. And apparently the police thought it was a valid call considering they had a handful of 911 calls from the end of a candle light vigil. Sam didn't think of that. But now the thought that crossed Sam's mind was that if he kept his mouth shut, nobody would link the propane explosion to him.

Sometimes it's good to be naive, sometimes bad.

The sky was bright and crisp as the sun came over the horizon. A man named Jacob was walking up through the parking lot. He liked to walk, he had no issue with parking so far away from the building. As he walked he noticed a girl with her arm in a blue sling was staring at a car. It just caught his senses but he didn't put any thought into it. That is, until he walked past her. His eyes caught a glimpse of yellow. His eyes widened and he stared at the car as well. He stepped closer to the girl. Her wide eyes greeted his. Before him was the black striped yellow Camaro. As they stood there, another woman approached.

"Here I thought I was imagining it. I guess I'm not the only one." She quipped as she greeted the two.

"You think it's him?" Jacob remarked.

"Those don't exactly look like normal paint scratches." The girl in the cast responded. Jacob placed his hand down on the hood and knelt down. As if looking underneath was going to betray Bumblebee's disguise. A stranger touching him, what a rude way to wake up to. Bumblebee's engine snarled to life and he abruptly wheeled away from them. The two women froze. Jacob rose to his feet.

There was no driver to be seen. It really was him. The humans didn't notice that behind them, Ironhide was edging forward silently. What better way to scare off the people than sneaking up right behind them and roaring his diesel engine to life at them.

"It's okay! Back up, give him some room." The other woman waved the two back as she stepped back as well. Bumblebee's engine continued to snarl at them.

That didn't seem to faze the man as a big smile plastered over his face, "This car saved my baby girl!" Bumblebee's growling ended at once. Then a sort of cooing noise came from under the hood. In a more gentle motion, he rolled forward again. He would have nudged the man but he stepped back. Bumblebee sent a signal to Ironhide. It was a flash of color that existed outside the human spectrum of vision. Ironhide nodded and returned to his parking spot.

Sam snapped awake. His head was buried in his sweater that he used as his pillow. He fell asleep on a couch. A hospital couch, which is not exactly something you'd call comfortable but he was so exhausted he probably could have passed out on a rock. He pulled himself to his feet and rubbed his face. The cold metal and scratchy tape on his fingers reminded him where he was and why. The halls were bustling with life now. He still couldn't believe that he wasn't arrested last night. The reasoning behind it, the propane explosion was a military problem now. His alien attack insurance in effect. His brain sizzled at the effects of lack of food, lack of sleep and adrenaline residue coating his synapses.

Sam walked out into the hospital parking lot. His daze instantly left him as he glanced up and saw a large crowd had gathered around a certain car. Panic flooded him.

"Hey!" He yelped. He was too far away for their attention. Sam pelted on to full speed ahead. He cleared the large parking lot in what seemed like a few strides and even fewer seconds. "Hey!" Sam yelled with a hiss. The people's eyes widened at his approach and backed away to accommodate him. His eyes scanned the crowd of ten or so people before looking over his friend. "Bee you okay?" Sam gently touched behind Bee's door. Surprised eyes softened and Bumblebee's radio warmed up.

#Ooh, I get high with a little help from my friends; Yes I get by with a little help from my friends, with a little help from my friends#

"Yeah? You're okay?" Sam nodded with a new found sigh of relief. He looked up at the people who surrounded his friend.

"You must be Sam?" Jacob reached out his hand in greeting. Sam entirely put off by the gesture clumsily drew his hand forward before realizing it was injured. He pulled back and offered his left hand instead. The man huffed a smile as he had an amused difficulty with the exchange. Jacob greatly clasped onto Sam's hand while Sam limply responded. Pulling back something clicked inside Sam's head as he looked over the various bandages and casts.

"You were on the bridge?" Their nods made him feel really guilty. That guilt plastered over his face.

"We were just telling Bumblebee how much he meant to us. For what he did."

Air escaped Sam's lungs as a soft smile spread over his face. A small smile for the shockingly large amount of appreciation that crossed over him. He looked over at Bumblebee.

"See Bee, not everyone hates us." Sam's hand ran down Bee's roof affectionately. He then folded his arms hugging Bumblebee's roof.

Confused looks of 'why would you say that' furrowed into their brows. Sam lingered with his head down on his arms taking in the cool metal that his skin was touching.

"No, we Definitely don't hate you."

Bumblebee's radio switched over and started playing something that made no sense to Sam. But it was soon obvious that he was finishing off a conversation that had been going on before Sam interrupted. Bee's viewers listened intently while playing the strange game of charades where music was used instead of body language.

Bumblebee then attempted to introduce his charge. To get his point across the easiest way Bee pulled a audio clip from a very well known interview, #So Sam, you are the man with the car that-.# The rest of the radio blurb instantly died when Sam lurched at the voice. It was Bee's turn to look like the animal caught in headlights as sensors picked up every electrical pulse and adrenaline saturated breath that Sam suddenly exhibited. Sam's eyes could have burned a hole through Bumblebee's armor. The humans couldn't or didn't see this exchange.

"What even possessed you to do that show anyways? You should have known that guy was a jerk!"

"Yeah well I didn't!" Sam snapped back drawing the crowd to surprise. "And it was my stupid roommate that started that stupid interview. I was just- I was freaking out and- I don't know what happened!"

"Okay? I didn't mean to-" Someone raised a hand to calm Sam. Sam backed away. Bee attempted to calm down his friend by reaching out his door to him. The door touched which did settle Sam a little bit.

"That guy is such a prick!"

"Hey didn't that interview happen the night of the attack?

"Yeah, that was unbelievable!"

"Omi'gosh, you still thought Bumblebee was dead that night didn't you. How could somebody do that?"

Sam nodded. The stress was heavily laced on his expression.

"Yeah well, outside of a hand full of idiots, everybody knows what Bumblebee did. And those idiots, well they're nobodies."

"Those idiots are all over Washington." Sam barely made his voice audible.

"What? What'ta you mean by that?"

Sam sighed as he buried his face in his hand. "They're going to kick Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots off the planet. Lennox is probably going to get court marshaled and I'm probably going to disappear under a new name or something."

The crowd stared back at him in stunned silence. They never got an inclination that anything was wrong while fluttering around Bumblebee.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know." Sam whispered. His mind snapped to his phone conversation that took place with Lennox a few hours ago. He had a plan then, but he lost his nerve when he saw the police officer. "I uh. What do you think would happen if I did, like an interview?"

"Heh. As long as it's anybody but O'Neil, you'd probably do fine."

"Go for it! What do you have to lose?"

Everything clicked in Sam's brain at that moment. The truth in that statement stung. Stung like a bee. A Bumblebee that Sam was determined to keep. He paused to look over his car, the thought running it's course through his head. Things that Victoria suggested, things that his roommate was trying.

"Have any of you heard of a website called The Real Effing Deal?" Sam's voice was strangely empowered now. He was given a mixed result of nods, shakes and shrugs.

"I love that blog, I've followed it since probably the beginning." The girl with the blue cast screeched in excitement.

"Do you think it helps?"

"Oh yeah, definitely! That site is definitely on the robots' side."

"Right, no, I know it is. What I mean is, do you think a lot of people read it and, do they get like the opinion that it might be okay or um, helpful or honest-"

"You mean valid?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, to be honest. It's still pretty cliche. He's changed his content around a lot so it's a lot more serious, but come one, the website domain is called real effing deal. It doesn't sound very serious."

"So, what if, what if we made a website for the transformers. And like just called it 'transformers'. You think people would take something like that seriously?"

"So you're thinking about a website?"

"Well, no. Well yeah, but what I mean is we need to get the word out. Maybe if -"

"Yeah, well I'm a website designer. If you think this will help keep your robot friends here, I'll gladly donate my services."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah sure." Nods and agreement erupted from the crowd.

"So what is this real effing deal thing?"

"It's this kid's blog page. He's been writing up about these robots being on earth. He's been doing it for about the last two years."

"Yeah it's usually pro robot but ever since he advertised it on O'Neil's show, it's been like war zone in there."

"So that's what has been pissing you off so bad?" Sam quipped up unexpectedly. He looked down to Bee's hood. Bee slumped and whirred his engine at getting caught red handed.

A gasp in the crowd. "You mean? He reads Real Effing Deal?"

Nod.

"Seriously?"

And even bigger nod and a mild smile.

"Bee I'm gonna give away you're super secret identity." Sam looked down, Bee shrugged. "He doesn't just read it, he's a regular poster."

"No way! Who?"

"Argent Weasel."

"Wha? But, Argent is a she! And, No way!"

A wide smile crossed over Sam's face.

#-he hasn't even figured it out!# Bumblebee bounced on his tires in a chuckle.

Sam laughed. "I know! He's so dense!"

When Sam and Leo returned from Egypt, Leo was entirely too excited to report everything on his site. Sam objected and did his best to be an obstacle to that plan. It was far easier done than said when he had the entire military and government backing him up. Not to mention a handful of alien robots who did quite well at online cleanup. Leo's persistence was brought to a crushing blow when even Sharsky and Fassbinder thought Leo's tale was too wild to be believable. Especially when he claimed that Sam was in on it the entire time. And especially, especially when Sam stayed true to their first impression. What robots? You guys are crazy. The media spun the cover up of Megatron's search for Sam as a malice scheme by a very powerful hacker. Regardless if the majority of people didn't believe the cover up, Sharsky and Fassbinder rather opted for that rather than warming up to their friend's roommate. As for the hacker, it was surprising how easily Glen would lend himself to be a scapegoat as long as the bribe included lots of money, fame among the hacker community and the special promise that he wouldn't get any jail time for the stunt. Since that time Leo has been passively trying to bolster Sam into giving him clearance to tell his story on Real Deal. It started off as giving Sam the high ranking responsibility of administrator on the website. To his dismay Sam busied himself reading through the comment section and laughing and having merry little instant message conversations. Not knowing this entire time that Sam stumbled upon Bee's interaction with the robot sites and was enjoying seeing the little hints and sheer silliness that the robot was leaving behind. Sharsky and Fassbinder didn't like Sam's take on the website at all!

Bumblebee was entirely amused how he had been under Leo's nose the entire time, chatting with him and studying the blog without him even catching on. A quiet ticking under the hood of the car.

Suddenly that thought didn't seem so amusing.

The overload nearly caught up to her on the drive home this early morning. She stopped the car on the side of the road and simply stared off into space while the internals of her brain tried to sort everything through. She did eventually make it to her residence, and there she admonished the overload by telling her story to the security guard at the front desk. As skeptical as he was, even he was swayed by the video that she captured via secrecy. Pointedly he decided the creature was too scary for his taste. Which provoked Victoria to argue in Bumblebee's defense. Perhaps a little too strongly for after a while, after the guard had been completely convinced, he chuckled and sent her on her way with a reminder that she had work coming up in a few short hours. When she reached her suite she still could not settle her excitement. She turned to her monitor and typed away her entire story. Perhaps forgetting her obligations to the military bureaucracy, or convincing herself that this new encounter didn't apply, her story was sent to all her friends and family, with a cursory note attached to one of her friend's email: 'hah Frank beat that!'. Slowly her exhaustion was finally winning out against the other chemicals in her system. She retired to the couch still not feeling like she could sleep. The sun was already lighting up the view in her windows. She reached over and turned the tv on. Her head hit the pillow.

She woke up to the alarm that was her phone. Daze and grogginess. Why was she on the couch? Why was she still in her cloths? She pulled her buzzing phone out of her pocket. Someone was trying to get a hold of her. She grumbled in annoyance an was about to dismiss the phone all together when her eyes caught the time on the display.

"Oh shit!" She leapt to her feet and hastily prepared herself for work. The entire time she was too distracted to noticed that like clockwork, her phone would go through a new percussion of alarms. Somebody desperately wanted her to pick up the phone.

* * *

"They're roommates."

"What?"

"Sam and the creator of Effing are roommates."

Ohmigosh! What a creepy coincidence!"

Sam brought up his hand and balled it up as he fake coughed. "Cough_bullshit_cough." His finger discreetly pointing at Bumblebee.

"Are you saying that he set purposely set you up to be roommates with him?"

#Innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.#

"Bee you are _so_ guilty. I've known you've been guilty the second I saw what an alien freak he was."

#You got nuthin on me!#

Sam's mood had lightened up. Bumblebee wasn't going to risk it for the dreaded feeling that crossed over him.

"No but really, I should probably call him and see if he's still willing to let me work on his website." Sam reached for his cellphone.

Damnit!

Sam opened his phone and as he was cycling through to get Leo's number when a hacked text message blocked his screen.

#encrypted message# Don't use you're phone for a while

"Bee? What is it?"

#encrypted message# Could be nothing, please just trust me

Sam furrowed his brow as he reluctantly slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"What is it?"

Sam shook his head. Bumblebee vented air.

"Bee." Sam egged Bee for his reasoning.

Sam's good mood was sure to be destroyed by now. There was no point hiding everything.

News begun streaming out of Bumblebee's radio. Last night's propane explosion was duly blamed on the robots. It didn't help that all the TV news stations had received a video recording of a specific yellow Camaro leaving the propane compound just as it was about to go up in fire. Sam froze.

"Oh shit!" Sam's brain reeling. "Victoria!" He jumped into Bee's driver side seat. The car tore off down the parking lot.

"Sam! Bumbl- damnit!" Ironhide yelled out after them. Completely taking the crowd by surprise that there were in fact two talking vehicles in their midst. The diesel engine started up and the pickup truck took off after the car.

* * *

_Now I know a lot of people have been waiting for the other story to get updated. Soon! I promise! I was going to do it tonight but my brain locked up like. . 3 paragraphs from where I'm going to post it. . . so yeah . .like tonight or sometime this weekend. Seriously, I figured with the winter months coming up that I'd have more time. I've been soo busy these past two weeks. Arg._


	10. Lights,

**Ch 10**

**Lights,**

"Victoria?"

Victoria rushed past her co-worker. "Yes I know, I know I'm late." She muttered as she tried to rush down the halls.

"What happened to you? You look like hell!"

Still that obvious huh? Victoria paused a moment with that question plastered on her face. She abruptly turned for a short detour to the bathroom for some touch ups. Her co-worker followed her in. The ghastly appearance of Victoria's reflection completely baffled her. How on earth did she miss this when she was getting ready for work. She had bruising on her neck and she had a somewhat serious looking gash on the side of her forehead. Victoria hurriedly pulled out her batch of makeup and went on her business while trying to ignore the other lady.

"Oh by the way, this came today. Wiped clean of course." Her co-worker handed her her little recorder that had been confiscated by the military. Hoping that Victoria would leak out some information without directly asking.

"That's okay, I think I've had my fill of robots for one life time." Victoria muttered back. Last nights overload finally faded away. When that went, so did her excitement about giant robots. She brushed her bangs over to cover the tear on her forehead.

"Oh yeah? I'm sure you heard all about the latest incident?"

Victoria sighed. "Don't tell me." She braced herself, literally bracing her hands on the edge of the vanity. She was going to be told anyways.

"Blew up a propane depot." Janet muttered in a disdained, flat voice. Victoria groaned. To busy herself from displaying any betraying emotions, she pulled out her lipstick and applied a new coat. Janet continued, "and we have video."

"Video?" The lipstick stopped in middle stride. Come to think of it, she noticed night shots of the propane explosion on her TV before she left, but didn't even give it a second thought.

"Yeah, someone anonymously sent it to all the stations."

She gaped, then without a word Victoria grabbed her purse and rushed out. Full steam ahead to find the people of importance. Her phone had been reshuffled so it went back to being noticeable as it buzzed for the hundred and umteenth time. It went ignored. It wouldn't stop. Victoria growled and snatched it out of her purse. Flipping it open, all steam fizzled out of her body.

#encrypted message* Victoria, I apologize but you must disconnect the battery from your phone.

"What?" She mumbled in confusion. As if the phone heard her,

#encrypted message* I believe the robot that attacked us last night may have intercepted the text messages between you and Sam.

Ice froze through her veins

#encrypted message* Victoria, please disconnect the battery from your phone at once.

"This- this is some sort of joke!" Victoria hissed. Her eyes dodged around to see if anyone in the office looked suspicious.

#encrypted message* This isn't a joke. I'm sorry about this. Please! Unplug the battery or destroy the phone.

He _could_hear her! Her heart seized. Instead of doing what she was told she dropped the phone to the ground and clasped her hands around her mouth to stifle a gasp. The phone racketed off the floor and bounced still. Seconds passed.

The phone began to buzz again.

"Hey! Victoria?" A hand reached over and touched her shoulder. She gasped and startled sharply enough to convulse her whole body. She spun around,

"Frank?"

Frank looked her over with worried curiosity. It was very unlike her to be late, or jumpy. He noticed the buzzing phone on the floor was being ignored. "You dropped your phone." He announced nonchalantly. Frank reached down and picked it up. He looked over at her to see a horrified look on her face. Hm? The look of getting caught. Meaning? New boyfriend? Ex? His playful demeanor took over. Or at least appeared to. Victoria would be the last person to tell anybody what was going on if something was going arise in her life. He flipped it open and started reading the message.

#Encrypted message* Victoria please!

An playful grin spreed across his face. Victoria steamed at his horribly bad timing to be cute. She tried to snatch her phone back. He dodged. He looked back to see a new message.

"Encrypted message? I'm on my way."

"What!" Victoria's air ripped out of her lungs. The exasperation made Frank pause for a moment, giving her the time to snatch the phone out of his hand. She glanced at the phone for a second, she then ripped the battery out and snapped her phone in half. Suddenly Frank's smug face wiped clean. This wasn't funny, something serious was happening. He used body language to ask why she broke her phone, but he was ignored. Victoria stomped away in determination, only making a sidestep to toss her phone in the garbage can. He quickly trotted up to catch up to her.

"Victoria. What are you not tell-ing me?" He was still keeping a playful tone.

She stopped again and turned to face him, but she ended up looking past him, into a room with an array of TV screens. Men and women were inside the room conversing the details of the video that played. Explosions, a fleeing Camaro. Everything was recorded in-

Aerial view.

The door clicked open causing the discussions to stop abruptly as they turned to look at Victoria. She disregarded them, instead she was watching the video feed. TV by TV she studied the shots. Dread.

She drew in a breath, "Sam was right."

"Victoria? We've been trying to call you all morning! Where the h-"

"Excuse me sir," another lady entered the room for an announcement to her boss, she choked back the strange wash of foreboding anticipation, "you're not going to believe this. That yellow Camaro with black stripes is outside!"

Victoria pushed her way out of the room. She preceded to the exit. Frank watched in confusion as he decided if he should go see what was up with Victoria, or - go with Victoria, she's acting way too strange to be less interesting than what the boss man has to say.

"The what?" The boss's voice drifted out of the room.

Victoria footfalls were clopping down the stairs as she hustled to the ground floor and down to the street. Frank called behind her but wasn't quite able to catch up until she pushed her way through the outside doors.

"Victoria! What is going on?" He demanded.

"Didn't you get my email this morning?" Victoria asked.

"Uh no. I was working. Which is something you should have been doing this morning." Frank remarked. He turned to look over the environment and fell into stunned silence. Sam Witwicky was hastily approaching them. Behind the boy was the heavily scratched and battered yellow and black Camaro. The car settled itself over the sidewalk.

"What are you doing here?" Victoria shot at Sam. Frank looked on in stunned silence.

"What do you think I'm doing here! How the hell is there footage from last night plastered all over the TV?"

"Sam you didn't think last night would go completely un-"

"How could you do that to us!"

Victoria became defensive, "Me! You think I had something to do with this?"

Let the argument commence!

"Well gee, let's think about this!" Sam used his hands to mime box her in. "News company." Sam swiveled and used his hands to box in his car. "Talking car. Boom, all over-"

"You can't seriously think that after last night the only thing I would be-"

"Wait? What last night?" Frank asked Victoria, completely stunned and completely ignored.

"-interested in is trying to-!"  
"You had a hidden camera-!"  
"I put the camera in the-"  
"You had a hidden camera and you were, like spying on-"

"What camera!"

"You saw me put the camera in the car!"  
"Like you couldn't possibly have more than one!"  
"Sam you really think with everything that was going on-"  
"As if our problems weren't bad eno-"  
"Yeah? problems? Like the ones you managed to get me involved with now!"

As the rest of the personnel made their way through the door to see Sam and Victoria in an all out screaming contest. Eyes dodged questionably to Frank. He shrugged with dumbfound.

"We are like going out of our mind with everything that's going on-"

"Have you seen the footage?"

"-and if that wasn't bad enough-!"

"Have you seen the footage!"

"Victoria! They blame us! We barely got out of there with our lives and sudd-suddenly it's all our fault!"

Victoria paused to gain a breath.

"Have. You. Seen the footage?"

Sam went mute. He hadn't.

"If you had then you would know it wasn't me who shot that video. Remember, I was in the car- in that!"

"Don't call him a that!"

"Sam. Sorry, Bee I am sorry. Sam I don't want to do this. This is not how I want to start my morning." Victoria brought her hands up to rub the stress out of her temples.

"Oh right, I really wanted to start my morning like this. You know. Little Raisin Bran, maybe some Saturday morning cartoons, get accused of exploding sh-"

"Sam!"

Sam went silent for a moment. Obviously not thrilled with dropping the topic. His eyes glared at something that didn't deserve to be glared at. A brick.

"Okay, Look I didn't mean to say it was you! Okay, I didn't. I just- Bee get off the sidewalk! What did I tell you about sidewalks? Look it's- just- Arrg! Okay-" A vehicle blared it's horn when it nearly clipped both the Camaro's back end and the side swiped the black Kicktop. Sam cursed under his breath as he looked back at the speeding car.

"Can we take this to the parking lot?" Victoria for the most part ordered. She began walking towards the lot.

"Look," Sam absentmindedly walked in step with Victoria. Behind them a crowd of very confused people followed. Some were making orders and preparations as to not miss anything important. "Things are just going, like insanely bad for us right now! I mean, everything is just- You know, first it was the bridge, and I thought my car died, then I get attacked at school,"

"Attacked?"

"Well yeah. You know, that's what happened to my fingers." Sam mumbled then rambled, "Some guy threatened to break all my bones in my body. Though after he, managed to break two of them, or one. You know I figured he was kind of serious. Bee too."

"Wha? Sam what happened?"

"Well, I was returning books, and looking for my roommate, and there was this candle light-"

"What did Bumblebee do?" Ice spread up her spine. They had reached the parking lot now. Bumblebee was innocently parked in the middle of the driving lane behind Sam. The large pickup truck slipped into a parking spot near them.

"What?" legitimate confusion. Then dread. He looked back to his car in an worried expression. The car looked uneasy. "Why?" Dumbfound turned to horror. "What did they say?" Now anger. "He didn't even do anything! He just scared them! They attacked me! Bee was only trying to protect me!" Sam bowled over and slammed the balls of his fist into his forehead. He was now in a fit of rapid breathing. He looked up with grieved eyes trying to say something instead, stepped back and collapsed on top of Bumblebee's hood. His eyes glassed over. "So what? Headlines like, evil car scares kids?" In all hopes and intentions, when Sam suggested that Bee was getting worked up over the internet over a chatroom discussion, that's all he was really hoping for. "So basically, no matter what we do," Sam dropped his hands into his legs in farther defeat. Bumblebee, the monster.

Victoria strained her eyes on Sam and his car. They were so frustrated last night, and even through it all they still tried to be optimistic. Sam's discussion about Bumblebee hiding things from him, she couldn't blame the car. He probably tried his hardest to keep Sam's tension low. He was already so wiry. She doubted Sam really had a chance to really read up on anything that was going on, and who knows what the super advanced alien had access to. If Sam was getting the perception that things were going bad, then that was probably the case. These two really did need help.

"Sam listen." She exhaled heavily. "That video footage from last night. I only had a moment to look at it, but I guarantee it was recorded by the other robot."

"What?" Sam whimpered.

"The footage is from the other robot." Victoria repeated. "Look, if it was me. It would have been exclusive video. This wasn't, it was sent to everybody! And if you look at the shots, it's from a top down view. There were no helicopters, the only thing tall enough- it had to be him." She paused to bite her lip. "You were right. The media is against you, and he's relishing that fact. Sam, I'm sorry I didn't believe you before."

Sam mumbled something that sounded like a 'what?'. He mostly just mumbled. His wild eyes were running through the chaotic jungle inside his head.

She watched him. Then reverted to her original line of thought. "What are you doing here, anyways?"

"I didn't know. I don't," Sam weakly shrugged his shoulders. He sat in silence. Then clearly and quietly,

"I'm going to loose him." Passively quiet until he moaned and buried his head into his hands. Ironic. Less than two months ago, he was trying to push Bumblebee out of his life. Now that it was so close to reality, he realized he wouldn't know what he would do to without him. Especially with Megatron resurrected, and the extreme threat that he presented to the humans, and they were clueless about it. In fact, they were blaming the wrong guys.

"Victoria." Her boss walked up with a weary and very puzzled tone of voice. A worked their way into a very quiet conversation. Hand held camera's caught Sam's moment of defeat. Victoria nodded to her boss and turned back to the eighteen year old who looked like he was a lost five year old. He looked up at her, as if he was waiting for her to give him a direction.

"I want to do an interview." Sam muttered, his heart not fully in his words.

"Sam! Absolutely not!" Ironhide growled. In his voice that could crush diamonds.

"Ironhide, please!" Sam pleaded.

Bumblebee rolled forward in protest. Causing Sam to drift backwards unbalanced. Sam slipped away from his car.

"Bumblebee, Sam. No! I have my orders and I have given you too much leeway the way it is!" Ironhide's voice was as sharp as steal. Bumblebee was bouncing in his chassis in protest. Either theatrically protesting in body language or just protesting through internal communications in such extreme outrage that he just couldn't help himself. Sam turned to the Kicktop.

"Ironhide please!" Sam approached the front of the vehicle. Even in vehicle form, Ironhide made Sam feel like a dwarf.

"No! It is too dangerous for you out here right now, and Bumblebee is too injured to be guarding you. I have my orders. We need to return to base and we need to get you somewhere safe!"

Witness protection safe. Human protection. No more Autobots! Sam's eyes glared away. Behind him he heard Bumblebee reluctantly popping the driver's side door open. The good little soldier. Despite his own protests, he had orders to follow. Sam didn't. His eyes steeled over.

"I have Lennox's permission to do this!" Sam turned back to stare down the truck. If that, was even possible.

"Sam."

"No, I do! Ask him! Verify if you don't believe me!" Ironhide was about to growl out another response. He wasn't biting. Then Sam would just have to bite first! Time for a new approach. "Ironhide listen, you and I both know we're going to get this guy! It's just a matter of time! How long do you think it will take? A week, two? A month max! And then what? You're going to get deported off the planet!" Sam licked his lips, getting ready to bite. "What about Will's little girl? What about Annabell?" Ironhide shifted up onto his chassis, making him look even more formidable. Sam wasn't intimidated, in fact he was bolstered by the defense. "How old is she gonna be? Two? three? In April right?" The great diesel engine went so silent he could have been an electric. "You really think the government is going to let you come back for her birthday party?" Sam went silent to see if his ploy would work.

Bumblebee edged up to Sam. #Hitting it a little below the belt wouldn't you say?#

"Look there really isn't much I can do to screw this up! I mean what? I say something stupid, you get deported, Lennox get's whatever, I end up changing my name and hiding in a hole somewhere. Okay fine. If I don't do anything at all, you get deported, Lennox get's probably I donno, bottom feeder status, or arrested and I end up changing my name and live in a hole somewhere."

"Sam." Ironhide was sounding weary.

"But if I don't screw this up! You know, it could be our chance! They might reconsider!" Sam's heart was racing. Ironhide drew a long heavy vent. Really Ironhide was the only Autobot Sam figured didn't do that as just a humanistic display. He could feel the heat roll over him from Ironhide's 'breath'.

"I'll," Ironhide grumbled, "contact Lennox and Optimus."

"Yeah well, Lennox trumps. I mea- yeah. Talk to them." Sam nodded dumbly. Sam didn't really know much about what Lennox's job entailed. But he was sure that his 'go ahead' wasn't part of it. And that it would get him in a lot of trouble. Yet Lennox would risk it. He felt the Autobots were worth it. Sam stepped back and Bumblebee rolled forward. An audience for a silent truck. As if watching a vehicle seemingly do nothing was somehow interesting to them. Optimus's response was sure to be quick, communicating with a human seemed like time edged on to eternity. Probably an argument. A gust of air flowed out of the grill and Ironhide nodded. Sam being the only human who could read an Autobot nod smiled enthusiastically and nervously.

"Alright." Ironhide grumbled again.

Sam turned to the stunned crowd. "Alright, we're, gonna do this right? An interview?" Sam took a step, and reeled back. Dizziness folded over him. Interview. How, how long has he tried to avoid this. Bumblebee took his slip in step as something different, and yet still very important. He rolled into Sam buckling the boy's knees sending him into a crash landing on Bee's hood. As if the car just ran Sam over, the crowd watched in frantic anticipation. Only for a Snickers commercial to be the stunning climax.

#Hungry? Why wait?#

"Yeah, Bee." Sam mumbled. The car snarled his engine in reply. "Yeah, I'll eat. I promise! Come on, stop getting all," Sam pulled himself away from the Camaro, "mother hen on me." Sam started walking to the group who were just too stunned for comments. Except for Frank.

"Can you imagine someone letting that, that, black behemoth near their kid?" Frank whispered to someone failing to realize he was whispering so loud that everybody could hear him. Of everything that was going on, that was somehow the only thing his brain latched onto.

"You kidding? He adores that kid." Sam informed garnering him a 'I didn't say nothing' glance. Victoria and her boss were discussing something rapidly. Then the boss man approached Sam.

"Well kid? You ready to do this? He sounded cheerful.

"No." Sam didn't.

Bacon, eggs and pancakes. Sam didn't have a real breakfast like this since, well since his parents house actually not that long ago. Yay! Not cold pizza. Facing him from across the table was two strangers. Victoria had a job to do. The other people had a job to do. As much as they would love to devote all attention to Sam, they had a propane coverage competition going on. Lucky them, they got the angle that the robot was trying to frame Bumblebee. Now fully aware of it, they were even able to spot the robots arm almost literally catching him red handed. He did have red claws. Ratings baby! Nothing sells more than sensationalism, and what's more soap opera'esk than robots blackmailing other robots? Although a huge amount of focus was going to go into their prime time news hour. An exclusive interview with the one and only Robot Boy! There was only one problem.

"Yeah I'm really not," pause, twitching, "good with, I ramble. I'm sure you can see how much I ramble and I'm just not really good with, being charismatic. Yeah, I mean you're probably looking at me," at least he felt like they were looking at him, "and going, why the hell would some super powerful advanced alien want with a rambling, sub par, you know average, not exactly the hunky type who is good with words, or being diplomatic, guy. Probably because my car is, like a mute, right. Yeah so he has troubles getting his words across, and I donno, probably finds it amusing that me," hand gesturing to himself, "who is fully capable of talking, and can't talk very well. Oh, plus I'm nervous! So it makes it even worse!"

"Sam," the lady sitting across from him chuckled, "you'll do fine."

He licked his lips, "yeah right." He pulled out his phone and held it in his hands kind of hoping that Bee would respond. Maybe kiss his egotistical boo-boo better. No response. Sam's leg had been vibrating on his toes with nervous anticipation. "Hey, why do you have my phone on block?" The two people gave him a funny look. They introduced themselves but Sam already forgot their names. "Bee." Sam called out.

#Encrypted message* A precaution. I think the Decepticon might have used it to find us last night.

"Geez." Sam hung his head in exaggerated commotion.

"You're car can talk to you through that?"

The phone buzzed again. Sam reopened it to see a frozen display. "Bee, you locked up my phone again." The phone dropped to the table and he spun it with his finger. "Yeah, but I need a better phone. This one keeps freezing if he sends messages that are too big."

"Can he talk to you, on other things. Like a computer?"

"Yeah. Easily."

"I think I have an idea. Yeah, it might even help you with your nervousness." She turned and scribbled down notes on her notebook.


	11. Camera,

_Yeah um. So, sorry for the really long lack of story. I um kind of lost my job so, I've been a little stressed out. Sorry. :\ Anyways It took me forever to finish this chapter, but on the plus side I think it's twice as long. So that makes up for it right? _

_

* * *

  
_

**Ch 11**

**Camera,****  
****  
**Sam stared at it. Little blinky red light. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blinking his seconds away. Unease had swallowed him. He tore his eyes away from the red glow just to see another camera. Another blinky light. Scuttling of humans all around him. Lights and microphones surrounded him, Sam didn't know what he was getting himself into. Since he was already expecting the worst, he was rather pliable to any and all of their suggestions. It was only a matter of time before he discovered if those agreements would crumble his world or not.

"Sam? You okay?" A woman paused in step and asked him with a smile.

Breathless, soundless words. Composed himself. "I think so. I'm just, really nervous." Did he really look that bad?

"You'll do fine." She encouraged. Sam tried to nod, but instead he ended up giving her a really distrustful look with a bobbing head. Yeah, he probably did look that bad. He picked up his borrowed laptop and stared at his instant messenger. He had already given his roommate a mile long explanation of what was going on. In return Leo gave him the mile long skinny on what the general public seemed to think of giant robots. Most of it was bad. On the bright side, Leo finally got his wish to go public with the Transformers. All eyes were going to be on this interview, including the blog Real Effing Deal. Great so, if Sam bombs on live tv, the internet would spreed it out like a bad meme, Leo at the forefront. He was so glad Leo wasn't sitting next to him for this. Of course, he really wished that Bumblebee _was._

Message from Ladiesman: You ready for this Bee?

Message from Bumblebee: We have one hour and twenty four minutes yet

Message from Bumblebee: Relax, you'll do fine.

Sam glared at the little computer.

Message from Ladiesman: Everyone keeps saying that!

Little words from a little laptop would have to do. He would have preferred Bumblebee's chirping over the colon and a parenthesis that was presented but it was most certainly better than nothing. Bee was still watching over him in some way or form.

In the past hours he ate, he talked, he slept in the car, like hardcore slept which still didn't make up for what he was lacking, he woke up and talked some more, more talk and finally Sam settled inside a room setup for the interview. Nice chair. Very - comfy. Better than those wooden chairs most other people sit in for their interviews. Though it seemed very out of place when everything else looked gutted and dark. People scuttled around like rats, so busy realigning the cords and wires to the machinery and gadgets. A large monitor was moved near him. Wires were popped in and the screen lit up giving the area a blue glow.

Sam reached over and unplugged the cord hooked up to the laptop. Everybody else was too busy to notice. He went in and erased the history conversation he had with Leo. Everything he thought he needed was jotted down on the note book beside him. He just hoped he'd be able to read it later. Bad handwriting with a broken finger does that. Sam emailed Mikaela, a little destroyed that she wasn't online. He couldn't call her or her him either due to his phone being blocked. His leg bounced in vibration on his toe. He still had an hour to calm down. A sigh and another survey of the room. Again he became distracted with the blinking little red light.

Recorded live. One reason, it allows Bumblebee to see what's going on. Main reason, outside of exclusive coverage of Channel 12 of course, was to prove that they weren't going to edit any of the footage to put a spin on Sam. For better or worse. Yep. Recorded live. So when he screws up, twitches, squeaks, and all around freaks out, every one will see it as it happens. Yep. This is going to be awesome.

Sam wrung his hands out on his pant legs. He didn't know what was worse, the anticipation of the interview, the waiting for the interview, the fact that he was being ignored, he wanted to talk to Victoria but she was busy, or that he was upset that everyone wasn't ignoring him, like, the world? Anyways, so many things to make him nervous it compounded and made a nice sized ball shoving itself uncomfortably in his chest.

Message from Bumblebee: No worries Sam. No matter what happens, we are in this together!

Sam didn't have a response to give to Bee. He stared at the tiny monitor. Then he arched his head back to stretch his nervousness out. He tried to ignore the glows and blinks in the dark room. They were ticking his time away, yet the hour was gruelingly never ending. Then his laptop was taken away. _Not his distraction!_

A new distraction. The reporter who was going to be introducing him to the world, again. More talking, this time with the addition of poking and prodding and jabs with makeup sticks. At this point Sam wasn't sure if he was going to be anxious, nervous or just outright ticked off by the time the interview would even start.

"Okay in twenty."

"Already? But-" Sam sat up absolutely stunned. Where did his hour go!? Where did Bee go!?_  
__He's not a security blanket!__  
__Big boys need to take care of themselves Sam!__  
__Yeah, but this is like bigger than just me! Which is exactly why you have to be doing this!_  
Alright you seriously know you're loosing it when the voices inside your head, your own, not the crazy voices, well okay maybe they are crazy voices, but yeah, it's going bad when they start arguing with each other! Just don't talk back!

"You need to do anything before we start?" All her attention was on Sam.

"What? Oh." And he had already forgotten her name too . "No I'm, fine." He mumbled, somehow. He could have used this moment to say, yeah I need to use the bathroom, and then run away and never look back! Which, is exactly why he didn't say anything. He couldn't run away! Could he? Wait? Does he _have_ to go to the bathroom now?

"In five, four, three," two, one.

_Oh god. Live tv, he was on tv! LIVE! Why did it have to be live? The world was watching him. Remember what happened last time? And the time before that? What on earth possessed you to do this again? Bumblebee. Right, yes! Wait, what is she saying?_ Crap!

"- A young man who just two months ago, became the most mysterious yet most recognized face on the planet. His name and picture was seen on every television in the world demanding his swift capture or else we would pay the consequences. Paris, the pyramids and a military carrier were attacked during this threat giving an indicator of just how serious of a threat this was. Then as quick as it happened, everything went quiet again. We were told that this was a terrifying hoax perpetuated by a cunning hacker who had deep connections with terrorists across the globe. It almost seemed too strange to be true but the truth is even stranger. On Thursday, August twenty-seventh, this very city was struck. The attack killed twenty-nine people and injured hundreds more within the span of a few short minutes. This time, there was no cover up. There was no secret. Millions of viewers across the nation saw just exactly what we are dealing with. Suddenly that mysterious man who seemed to be just a convenient scapegoat has once again come to the forethought of our minds. Who is he, and what secrets has he been hiding? So Sam, who are these robots and how do you know about them?"

Sam froze. The weight of this secret suddenly spewing forward felt like it would crush his chest. Giant robots crushing, yeah that sounds about right. His interviewer watched him intently. Her tone changed to being slightly bitter as Sam just sat there staring at the monitor. It reflected an image of him sitting on Bumblebee's hood. Wow, was the burn marks on his face from Egypt still that noticeable, or was that from last night. Regardless, he really _did _look that bad.

Since he wasn't responding, she continued, "You've been holding out on us Sam. You have a _big_ secret that you have kept hidden away. Something that I think the world would have appreciated knowing that hiding among us was giant robots. How long have they been here and what do they want with us?"

His heart raced, he was so overwhelmed he failed to realize that he was quivering.

"Um." For a brief distraction, Sam decided to pick up his glass of water. As it hovered in front of him, he realized how bad of an idea that was. The water amplified his tremors. The ice cubes racketed against the glass. The water was slipped back to the table with out a sip taken from it. His heart was drumming deafening beats deep inside his head. He was expecting more along the lines of, throw in a few soft balls, maybe a hard ball after Sam started to ease in a little bit, but apparently not. Unless this was a softball. _Screwed! _"What do the robots want with us? I guess, which ones? Because, hm, there's two factions. Um," Sam tried to focus, he needed to get his brain to work. He tried to, oh geez. Wow! Makeup was itchy. Is it always this itchy or do girls just get used to it after a while? That's a question he'd never expect to ask his girlfriend. Mikaela! I need you so much right now! Damn I miss you! Why weren't you at your computer!? Okay now everything felt itchy. Oh geez it's like, getting worse. Do I- _Stay focused Sam, stay focused!_ Okay right. Arg! Itch! Is it safe to itch this off? I don't want to be here!!

"Sam?"

He blinked back into focus. "Yeah." Roll call. I'm here. Sort of. What was he trying to say?

"Two different fractions? Could you tell us what the differences are?"

He couldn't stand it, he brought his finger up to scratch his face. "uh-yeah there are the Decepticons," his voice cracked, he tried to clear it, "and the Autobots. And what the Decepticons want, they want to," Swallow down that salty saliva. He needed water but he didn't dare. He didn't even think his hand would be sturdy enough for him to hold it still at his lips. "They want to kill us. To make us, extinct."

"Extinct? Humans?" She was too stunned to really ask an interview type question.

Sam nodded, "Yeah. The Autobots, well they believe that all sentient life, gets to chose, their own life. So life and freedom are their biggest differences. And they came here, to this planet to stop the Decepticons." Sam started to zone again.

"So," a feud over protecting other planets wasn't what she had expected. "You're telling me that a group of robots came all the way from their planet, just to protect planets that have nothing to do with theirs?"

Sam snapped back to her world again. "Yeah. Basically what happened is that Megatron, the Decepticon leader, trashed their world. He um, turned it into this horrible dictatorship that you either had to obey him, like a slave, or you die. The Autobots wouldn't stand for that, they fought back. But uh, unfortunately, they weren't strong enough. Not at the time. Most," now his neck itched! "most of them were just civilians who didn't have any formal training on how to fight. So, they, they lost a lot of people, and a lot fled. And the All Spark was launched out into space to try and take the war off of their planet, and it didn't work." He paused, not sure how to turn this story around without making it sound like the Autobots drug the war to Earth. "Basically," his voice went weak, "they just wanted to get away," he licked his chapped lips with a dry tongue, "they wanted to start a new life." It was the story depending on who you ask. Skids, Mudflap. Everyone else that he knew pretty much retired into the notion that this war would be with them for the rest of their mechanical lives. But Sam also knew that the longer Bumblebee spent away from NEST, the more he nestled into the carefree life at Sam's side. A carefree life that was hard to deal with because of the constant secrecy that went against Bumblebee's want to just be himself. "But the Decepticons didn't seem content to let them live peaceably. They went out into space after them. It was only a matter of time before they discovered a new planet they could harass. We just ended up being it." _Shit!_ It still sounded like it was the Autobots fault. "I mean." His fingers slammed into the bridge of his eyebrow. Sam you are such a terrible liar! "I donno. Anyways Optimus and the others don't want a repeat of what happened to their planet. So, they, they came here to stop the Decepticons."

"Okay? So, your car is an Autobot?" Darcy asked, her firm voice had an underlining waver. Sam nodded. She looked him over carefully. "What kind of relationship would you say you have with you're car?" She glanced down at her notes and momentarily at the monitor.

"Relationship? What? You mean like-?"

"You don't fear you're car in anyway?" She blurted it out, she really didn't mean to but it's a twenty foot tall robot!

"What? No! I don't fear my car! Why would I fear him? He's like my life line, my guardian. I mean yeah, I do have a fear, which is that, you know he could die on me. Like he almost did. But-"

"Sam, he's a twenty foot tall robot! You don't find that to be scary at all!?" She was perplexed! Sam shook his head making her gape on live television.

"Actually, he's more like fifteen. I'd say eighteen at the max. I don't know for sure, I never actually got around to measuring him."

Disbelief. She cleared her throat and looked down at her notes. Okay so living with a fifteen foot tall robot doesn't seem to phase him a bit! "Okay? But there are rules that he forces you to abide by, rules to keep him hidden?"

"Yeah, I have rules, that I'm abiding by, okay I'm actually kind of breaking them right now. But they aren't his rules. He has to abide by the same rules as I do, actually even more. Those rules to keep him from exposing himself, that's actually a government rule. Optimus's rule too but, yeah. I mean he broke that rule when he was on the bridge but he was only trying to save a hundred or so people and a bus full of kids." Sam paused as the wheels turned inside his head. These questions seemed slanted in accusation against Bumblebee. Fear, scary, forces. The twisted ball of nerves unraveled into a building wave of fury.

"He exposed himself when he went to face to face the robot who attacked the people the bridge. The same robot who attacked you and Bumblebee last night that took out a propane depot? Coul-"

"What is this!?" Sam sat forward up in demand. His face grimaced as his chest welled up in rage. He thought this interview wasn't going to be another attack? Why are these questions so one sided against them?

"I'm sorry?"

"What you're asking about is that accusation crap the one guy spewed aren't you!? Like Bumblebee is dangerous or something!" Sam stared at her. She looked innocently back at him. The edges of his mouth curled slightly as his eyes steeled over and looked away. His venom hit his tone, "Bumblebee protects people! Last night at the propane tanks, Bumblebee was protecting me and some other lady who works here. That's the only reason why I was talked into doing this interview! On the bridge, Bumblebee went there to protect all those people, those kids on the bus! And you know what else? There was this candle light vigil at my school. Somebody was drunk out of their mind and tried to kill me! Bumblebee was there to protect me! Those rules about keeping him unknown was in place to protect both him and me! And now that every things out in the open, I can't sleep at night! I can't, can't go to school! And I get _attacked!_ And all Bee did was scare them off! Okay! He's not even supposed to protect me from people!" Sam shifted, rage increasing. "And now he has to! And we have been hiding out the last four days in some, abandoned building when he should have been back at base _resting_!" He paused to catch himself. To calm himself. His hands pursed together at his lips in thought. "You know why nobody wanted to come out about the Autobots? Because people are violent and hostile and they do really stupid things when they are panicked! Do you know that Optimus won't even allow the government to use cybertronian technology for weapons?" Sam was straying towards the grays of what couldn't talk about. He was too far into spitfire rage right now to notice or care, but Bumblebee noticed. He began to plea to whomever had control of the computer to be allowed to talk to Sam. He needed to calm Sam down!

"With the perpetual wars we have going on, World War One, World War Two! In some ways humans are just as bad as the Decepticons! You have any idea how much damage would happen if we started using super advanced weaponry against our own people!? If they had it you know they would! And you know, for years, humans chased after Bumblebee! This government secret agency, Sector Seven! They wanted to probe him up, dissect him, just tear him to pieces! They didn't care that he was terrified of them or if they were hurting him! They didn't. He was just a thing to them!" Sam appeared to be close enough to blow a fuse at any moment. In the darkness beyond the well light stage, the staff tried to motion quietly to Darcy to cut to commercial.

"Sam, if I could cut in for just a moment, but we need to cut to commercials."

"No. No, you don't need to cut to commercials!" Sam growled. "Not yet! Look you wanted me to talk, I'm with it, I'm here. I'm ready to talk so let me talk!" He glared at Darcy momentarily. "Bumblebee is sentient! He's a living, feeling, breathing, okay not breathing, but he has feelings! I know all you people out there are arguing that he's just a robot and doesn't have any feelings. That's just, it's flat out wrong!"

"Sam please. It's okay-"

"No, it's not okay! You wanted the truth! Here it is! Do you want me to lie to you? Tell you that these creatures are horrible, horrible monsters and we should just destroy them all!? Because they're not!"

"Sam, we're not trying to make you upset."

"You're not trying? Of course you're not trying! Did you miss the memo on how much stress I've been under lately? It doesn't take much! I'm very touchy lately! Bumblebee too. We are both very touchy! Like I was saying, Bee is sensitive. He takes every life lost personally. Sure he didn't look that way, he hides it! We get into, screaming down each others throats sometimes and a moment later he's like, nothing ever happened. It's because he hides it, he doesn't show his emotions off to get other people down, but that is no excuse to take a mother who lost her child _in front of him_ and have her scream at him! He has been so frustrated and upset right now, I have never seen him this way. You know, he wanted to come out, he wanted to have like a normal life like you and everybody else get to have, one where he didn't have to hide, in my parents garage, or get yelled at every time he tried to be himself and not some car because somebody could see him! But not like this! Not like, seen as some unfeeling monstrosity who gets blamed for killing kids when he tried everything to stop it! He almost died! Okay? Does that not mean anything to you people? He risked his life to try and save those people on the bridge. He and Optimus and all the other Autobots sacrifice so much and all we do is treat them like crap!" His raged ceased enough to inhale a much needed grasp of breath. "Look," Sam's eyes leveled to the floor, "I've done it too. I have." He sighed. "I just wanted to have a normal life too and," his hand curled up and pressed it against his lips in thought. "Bee I'm sorry, I should have done this sooner. When Optimus asked me. Maybe if-" His rage boiled over into the despair of loosing him. His finger probed at the stress surrounding his eyes. "Can we? Can we take a break now?" Sam muttered weakly.

"Sure." Darcy nodded and proceeded to tell her audience. A warning for how long they return to broadcasting. The knot tied tighter in Sam's stomach.

"I can't do this." Sam jumped from his seat and tried finding an exit before Darcy or anybody else could turn to talk to him.

"Sam wait!"

"No, I'm, I'm not cut out for this! I'm probably just making it worse!" Sam hurriedly walked through the maze of stands and devices, too busy watching the people following behind him that he nearly bowled into Victoria who stepped into his way.

"Sam." She demanded, startling Sam as he just now realized his path was blocked. "I think you're doing great considering!" Victoria's voice was so stern and so sure of her words he couldn't help but laugh a huff of hysteria at her comment.

"Yeah right. I am like this close to a mental breakdown!" His thumb and finger pinched themselves.

"You've been stressed out lately. That's understandable. You managed out maneuver a killer robot who was trying to crush you after all. Considering that, I think you can handle a few questions and a couple of cameras!"

"No, I'm not the person qualified to be sitting in front of the camera saying anything."

"You're right." Franks boastful tone startled Sam and caused Victoria to cast a weary glance at him. "You should be letting you're roommate do this. I'm sure he'd love to talk about how much you're car was a jerk by spraying him down with windshield fluid." Sam gave him the most unfriendly look possible. "I'm just saying! If you don't want to talk about how much you're car means to you, might as well hand over the air time to some guy who is good at speaking. Charisma's everything right?"

Frank's one-up drew the predicted glare from Victoria.

"Sam, something tells me you've been through worse things if you have a giant robot protecting you! I haven't been able to figure it out, but there must be some reason why they like you so much."

"Now Victoria, that's harsh. What's wrong with Sam? I'm sure when he's not being a coward he's a perfectly respectable young man."

"Oh yeah sure, when he's not running with his tail between his legs."

"Yeah, you two are real great. What is this? Your stress relief 101?" Sam grumbled.

"Actually, yeah." Victoria admitted, seemingly beside herself for never realizing that before.

"Yeah well you guys are assholes." Sam muttered and turned back to talk to more reasonable people.

"Assholes with'a smile." Frank smiled broadly and saluted. Sam turned his head back with a glare. His brow glistened from the sweat. "Can we get some makeup on the kid? He's starting to shine worse than the moon!" At that Sam was rushed back to his seat.

"You still haven't beat me, Frank." Victoria drew a sideways glance at her co-worker. He mhmmed in disinterest. She turned her head at him and whispered loudly, "I road inside an alien car!"

"Can I talk to Bumblebee?" Sam winced as a powder brush worked it's way across his face.

"Sorry, there's not a whole lot of time, we have to be back in less than a minute."

"Is this necessary? It makes my face itchy?"

"We have to for the camera. You're just nervous, when you calm down it will go away." She reluctantly finished her patch work while the camera man behind her began his count down. At the very last second she ripped away the cloth and stepped back.

"Welcome back. I am here with Sam Witwicky. Now I would like to invite our second guest and to tell you the truth, I'm a little excited about introducing him." Darcy paused to garner a look at the monitor that switched over to a outdoor image. Next to that was a white screen." Out in our parking lot right now, is Bumblebee the robot who turns into the yellow and black Camaro. Now from what you've told us Sam is that he is a mute but is capable of communicating with us in other ways. One of those ways is by instant messaging, so what we've done, is hooked up a monitor for him to talk with us. Are you there Bumblebee?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Yes. I'm here.

Sam's breath left him. He swallowed down his anticipation.

"Good. We have Jerry Heinmen here, who is going to be reading the screen for us. You don't mind if he's you're voice tonight do you Bumblebee?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Hmm, well I normally prefer a British accent.

Jerry read the line and cast a questionable glance to Darcy and Sam.

Message from Bumblebee:: So, how's my singing voice?

Jerry laughed in a bit of dismay after reading it. "Not very good, I suppose."

Awkward smiles abound, except for Sam. He still looked like an animal caught in headlights more than ever. Leave it to Bumblebee to act as if Sam's spaz attack on Darcy was nothing.

"Bumblebee is there anything you would like to say to Sam?" There was a moment of nothing showing up on the monitor. Sam's eyes fixed intently on the white screen.

Message from Bumblebee:: Sam there is no need to apologize for anything.  
Message from Bumblebee:: You honestly don't have to do anything for us, yet you continue to do so. Not only that but you have always given us 110% over and beyond what we ask of you.  
Message from Bumblebee:: Stop being so hard on yourself.

Message from Optimus:: Sam, Bumblebee, I want to thank you both for of your efforts. I know this past week has been very trying and full of undue stress for the both of you. You have my thanks, and I want you to know that you have my full support in this endeavor.

Message from Bumblebee:: Thank you Optimus.

Sam's eyes widened in surprise to see Optimus respond. He nodded and mouthed his thanks to Optimus while Bumblebee's line was read. Optimus was giving him his full support. Suddenly it was as if Optimus literally lifted tons of stress off of Sam's shoulders. He sighed a breath of relief and shifted forward.

"Okay well first of all." Before Darcy could ask any of her questions. "The president wants the Autobots gone. These guys in Washington er whatever think that by sending the Autobots off the planet is going to some how stop Megatron from attacking. They think that the Decepticons attack only because the Autobots are here. Look, the Decepticons are going to attack us no matter what. Unlike what that one jerk tried accusing me of, I don't even know his name, something my roommate, but whatever, Megatron was here first. He was looking for the All Spark and got himself frozen at the Artic Circle. My great grandfather found him, I'll get into that later, but Megatron was moved and tested on _by humans_ for about the last hundred years. Okay, he's pissed and he's not just pissed at the Autobots, he's pissed at us! So sure you could kick the Autobots off the planet, but then you would have to, I donno, do something with me, because he's pissed at me, I mean like really pissed. You've seen what he's done to try and get to me. You know like posting my face all over the world. Then you'd have to get rid of the military. All of it, because for the last two years, ya, no, top secret and stuff, but I'm allowed to tell you this much. The last two years, the military has been working with the Autobots in this special task force that's been keeping us safe from Decepticons. Not just the US Military either, like all over the world." Sam paused to lick his lips. "And then after you do that, you might as well wave the white flag and surrender ourselves for slavery and plant food because that is what's going to happen to us.

And you don't know this, but the Autobots saved this world twice now. And outside of like Mission City and San Diego I bet most of you didn't even know they were here. Uh, so. I guess I'll start at the very beginning then. Which was, my great grandfather Archibald was exploring the Artic Circle. He stumbled upon Megatron, who at the time was frozen in the ice for probably a couple thousand years. What he was after was something called the All Spark. Which was an ancient technology even by their standards. It was really powerful, and he wanted to turn it into a weapon. So my Great Grandfather triggered something on Megatron, got these, symbols, coordinates burnt into his brain. Along with whatever else Megatron was thinking. Death and destruction probably. Drove Archibald mad. So he was put in a mad house and considered crazy and buried in a tiny little cemetery with barely a gravestone big enough for his name. A great thanks to one of the biggest finds in the world. Yep. Cell phones, computers, all kinds of digital technology because of studying Megatron. Fast forward a hundred years and me, an average, high school, kid gets these pair of glasses as a family heirloom kind of thing. Didn't really think of it, posted them up on Ebay. Autobots came along looking for it. Actually it was Bumblebee who found me. Meanwhile the Decepticons were looking for the location of the All Spark as well, except for doing it harmlessly and discretely, they were destroying Military bases. They didn't find the location, but they found out a last name of the guy who found Megatron. So, yeah, it went straight back to me. That was the start of Bumblebee being my guardian. Um. Got a girlfriend, which was great. She is like, the most gorgeous person you will ever meet. And um, yeah, was getting the glasses for Optimus because, well no bids on Ebay. Bumblebee and I and Mikaela were taken to this underground bunker or something called Section Seven."

Message from Bumblebee: For the record, I don't actually hate Simmons. Hate's a strong word, although I'm okay with extreme dislike.

"What? Oh yeah, Simmons was one of the guys doing the experiments on Megatron, so yeah he wanted to do experiments on Bumblebee too. Well, did. We stopped that. Anyways. So Armageddon was coming. This was when the Decepticons wiped out all the cell phones and tv and satellites and things. So some of the military was stuck there, and they couldn't get word out that we knew where they were going to attack. Unfortunately we didn't really have any options. It was pretty much, form a really uneasy reliance, boom, go. We had to go to the city, Mission City, I'm sure you heard of it. It was the only way we could get radios to try and fight against the Decepticons. Oh right, I should probably say this. The reason why they were going after the All Spark, was because it gave life to their kind. So Megatron wanted to use the Sparks power and turn all, and I mean _all,_ of our technology into mindless killers. You know, to kill us!"

Message from Bumblebee: Where as we wanted to take the All Spark back to our home world to rebuild it.

Listening to the man reading off Bumblebee's words out loud stopped Sam cold. Sam eyes widened in emotional pain and his enthusiasm drained out so much that it made him visibly pale. He shifted in his seat, there was that hook again driving through his chest. Without the All Spark, Bumblebee couldn't go home to live his normal life. Without the All Spark, his world is just a dried husk slowly being beat around in the winds of time.

Message from Bumblebee: Sam

Sam was trapped away in his thoughts.

"Sam?" Jerry's voice broke through.

Message from Bumblebee: Go on, Sam.

A curious nod from Jerry and a eager stare from Darcy and the people hidden behind the cameras. Sam swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah," Sam restarted, his voice physically strained this time. "So we got the All Spark to Mission City. And before we could get in air support to get it away from the area, Megatron and his Decepticons attacked." Sam's mind was much slower to process through everything. "Well I guess before that, Optimus and the others caught up."

Message from Bumblebee: BTW, I wonder what the soldiers thought when out of nowhere a semi truck, a search & rescue vehicle, a sports car, and a large pickup truck suddenly spun around behind them and followed suit. Considering they were without radios and communications and all.

The musing was unexpected, which caused Sam to plaster a dork smile on his face.

"You know, I never thought about that." Thanks Bee, he was always good at pulling him out of his downer feelings. Years of experience. "So yeah, that's when the thing happened in Mission City. And the reason why Megatron is thoroughly pissed at me is because, he was about to win. So, I had to destroy the cube, the All Spark. Rammed it into Megatron's chest actually. Which, kind of killed him. But ya." There by destroying Cybertron. Not that it mattered, as far as he knew Cybertron was completely destroyed. The room was quiet, which is bad for tv and radio.

After a moment. "That's quite, the story." Darcy spoke clearly but she probably wouldn't have if she wasn't sitting in front of a camera. Sam licked his lips and nodded a bit bashful.

"That's actually not the end of the story yet. Not even close, because there are still Decepticons out there," Sam inhaled heavily. "and Megatron isn't as dead as we would've liked. See when I pushed the All Spark into Megatron's chest, it caused this type of, surge which destroyed both Megatron's spark and the All Spark, but a piece of the All Spark was left. The Decepticons got a hold of the piece and used it to restart Megatron."

Message from Bumblebee: We will get them, that's a promise! We've been making tremendous progress ever since we teamed up with your people. We couldn't have done it without them, couldn't have done it without you Sam.

"Yeah right." Muttered bashfully.

Message from Bumblebee:: Sam, seriously!? Modest much?

Sam cracked a smile at the comment. Bumblebee did have a point. Nodding to himself he began to tell about his most recent adventure with the Sun Harvester and the Fallen. Although Sam still managed to minimize his effort throughout the fight which sparked some bad energy across Bumblebee. Not that Bumblebee would say anything to let anyone know.

* * *

"Okay Sam, we are running out of time unfortunately, and I can't help but feel like we barely even touched upon this new threat." By now her reporter voice had almost completely dropped away. The fact that herself along with millions of other people across the globe were mere minutes away from becoming an extinct planet, she couldn't fathom they didn't even _know_ about it. They're only clue was a broadcast that demanded the boy. Only to find out that the fragment of the cube gave him knowledge of a secret energy key that would have completely destroyed Earth. Their fear could have easily lead themselves to their own slaughter. If this story was even true. Which even Sam's cockiness couldn't overshadow his humbleness as he told this story making it feel much less like a hoax.

"I mean, who is this guy? And is he trying to destroy the world as well?"

Deafening silence and a motionless screen. After a while Bumblebee finally responded.

Message from Bumblebee:: I'm sorry. It's pending investigation so there is no information I can offer you at this time.

Eyebrows furrowed at the screen both on camera and off.

"Bee?"

Sam's phone buzzed.

#Encrypted message* idk sorry

There was gravity behind such a simple response. When the All Spark battle was going on, Bumblebee and the others knew what was going on. When Megatron and the Fallen were searching for the Sun Harvester, Sam knew what was going on, even if he couldn't formulate it. He couldn't explain it, but deep down he knew what was going on. Now though, the directionless compass made things ominous and foreboding. He closed his phone and his finger rung across the smooth plastic.

"Well, Sam thank you for you're time and thank you for sharing you're story with us."

"Uh, actually thank you for letting me actually get to talk." He reached over to shake her hand. "Look, I'm sorry that we have to leave you with such, uncertain news like this. Optimus and the others are on full alert to catch this guy. And when they do, he won't be hurting anybody ever again."

Closing remarks and then black out. As soon as the cameras died, Sam grabbed his head in his fists and paced around remarking about how stupid he was.

"Sam?"

"Stupid stupid stupid stupid, I should've- The whole point of this was to not freak everybody out!" He growled mostly to himself. When he finally picked his eyes up to look at the crowd most of them watched him in stunned silence. "You're all freaked out now aren't you?"


	12. Camera 2,

_**I want to thank everyone so much for you're support! It really means a lot to me!!!**_

_At any rate, all last weekend when there was no computer in sight, and I was out in the rain making writing on paper difficult, I had great ideas for this chapter. By the time I got to the point of writing them . .I totally forgot most of it. Opps.* Oh well, next chapter will be fun. Squee I can't wait!_

_Also I'd like to alert: Worst case's newest chapter is almost ready for posting. I just have to read through it. Gosh now that I don't have work anymore, these week days go by too fast._ Should it be, opposite?

_* Okay, my apologies to those who have already read this chapter. The issue is, my most creative time to do anything is between 12:30 and 4 in the morning. Unfortunately, this past week I've been going to bed before my creative hour could begin. Now, I rushed the chapter a little, forgot about a lot I was going to write, posted it, went to a movie and came back wired. So now, mostly everything that I forgot to write about, I remembered. I tried to shove that into the next chapter, but I'm just not happy with it being there so I'm putting it back into the chapter I originally meant it to be in. So, again I'm sorry but I'm going to upload an edit for this chapter._

* * *

**Ch 12**

**Camera 2,**

"Do you really think they'll kick the Autobots off this planet? After all that?"

Pained eyes looked over him. He mirrored the gaze.

Sam cast his head down and made an announcement to Bumblebee. Though his cameras no longer watched him, he was still being listened to. "Bee, I'm not going back to base with you." Sam walked back to where the computer was sitting. "Can I?" It was permitted. He turned and unplugged the cord from the monitor and unblocked the rest of his friends on his list.

Message from Bumblebee: WHAT!!!!??

Sam finger poked out his message on the keyboard.

Message from Ladiesman: I can't. I have to get a hold of Leo and Mikaela so we can start working on a website and probably do some more interviews

Message from Bumblebee: We gave them an interview. Now it's time to focus on other things.

Message from Ladiesman: B 1 interview isn't going to cut it. U'd be an idiot if you think that!

Message from Bumblebee: Sam, please. I am seriously loosing my patience!

Sam was too busy typing up plans to Leo that flew in the face of what Bumblebee wanted.

Message from Bumblebee: Sam?

Then the proverbial straw landed. Sam made mention to his roommate that if Bumblebee insisted on being difficult, he'd just get a cab.

At times Sam would be so dismayed at Bumblebee's naivety towards human nature that he forget just how advanced and sneaky Bumblebee was. Of course Bumblebee was keeping tabs on Sam's other chat. If there was one thing that Bee absolutely could not stand it was the idea or hint that he was replaceable. Especially when he wasn't good enough in comparison to a taxi cab! A _taxi_!

Message from Bumblebee: Enough screwing around Sam! I am taking you to the base!

Message from Ladiesman: I am not going to that base

Message from Bumblebee: Yes you are, that's final!

Message from Ladiesman: WTF?!  
Message from Ladiesman: r u ordering me!?

Message from Bumblebee: Yes Sam. This is serious! You know I try and stay out of your way, but not any more! I AM ordering you! You are going to base and we are leaving! Now!!

Sam steamed at the little computer. His teeth clenched and his fingers curled over the keyboard. The trigger for Bumblebee's sudden flare up was lost on Sam. Didn't the yellow Autobot realize that he was going to put his entire focus on keeping the Autobots on earth?

Message from Bumblebee: Sam!  
Message from Bumblebee: This Decepticon is unraveling EVERYTHING I worked for! I am not going to stand by and do nothing! I need you safe and I need to fight this bastard!

Message from Ladiesman: Don't you get it?! That's why I have to go back to my dorm!

Message from Bumblebee: Why are you being so difficult! Just Stop!  
Message from Bumblebee: So much for me thinking that last night's talk actually meant something!

Message from Ladiesman: The government isn't gong to do anythign to help u!  
Message from Ladiesman: what talk?

Message from Bumblebee: The talk where I thought you finally figured it out! I can see that I was wrong! You haven't changed a bit!

A direct insult. It was no longer a matter of wondering what had set off Bumblebee. Bumblebee now took action to set off Sam.

"Fuck you Bee!" Sam growled as he glared at his computer. He hated how his mannerisms were rubbing off on to Bumblebee. Humans were full of bad habits. And Bee's mimicry nature caused him to pick up such bad habits. Examples would be swatting at his broken voice box in an ill attempt to fix it or saying something stupid just to start an all out screamfest when Sam was being especially difficult.

Message from Bumblebee: Same to you Sam!

Sam lurched for his phone growling under his breath. When it was at hand he begun to claw at the back to try and pry the battery loose. He glanced up at the screen.

Message from Bumblebee: You don't have a clue how hard I've tried to please you! Don't do this, don't do that! I have tried so hard to listen to your stupid little rules, but you, I ask one thing from you and you fight it insistently!

Eyes burned. The battery was left intact, if only so he didn't have to try and type with his broken fingers.

"Yeah, well I guess I'm just not the perfect little soldier like you are, huh? When I'm ordered to walk off a cliff I don't do it like you would! Forgive me for not being so stupid and naive to think that the same people who wanted to dissect you now just want to be friends with you!" The growl in his voice was drawing an even larger crowd.

The message in the corner of the box gave an indication that Bumblebee was typing something. Considering that Bumblebee didn't actually have to type anything and his messages were instant, he was either thinking up a book, or it was blocked. Taking advantage of the gap Sam's fingers jumped to the keyboard, only to find out that his side was blocked as well.

Message from [][][][][][][][]: That's enough! Both of you!  
Message from [][][][][][][][]: Your arguing and bickering will get us nowhere!  
Message from [][][][][][][][]: We need to keep our heads on our shoulders. Negotiate your plans but DO NOT escalate tensions!

The program thawed.

Message from Ladiesman: What do you suggest then? Theres noway i'm goig onbase. itslike bein glocked up like a prison there!  
Message from Ladiesman: i mean wats the deal? qhy can't you catch htis guy? u never had probelsm before  
Message from Ladiesman: and screw you b! How dare you say i don't get it! its not liek you took any time to ask my persepctvie on this! ur the on who hasnt figured it out!

Message from Bumblebee: Okay fine then. Why do you refuse to go to the base? We both know they won't lock you up like a prisoner. It's the only place where I know you won't get attacked by your fellow human beings! Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus when I know you're out there somewhere surrounded by potential hostiles and I am completely unable to do anything about it!?

Message from Bumblebee: Sam I'm sorry, please don't get mad again. I'm just really on edge right now.

Message from Ladiesman: I kno you are b

Message from Ladiesman: I get that you're beeing super clingy cuz I almost died on u

Message from Bumblebee: You didn't just _almost _die. You did die!

Message from Ladiesman: nd i knw soemthigns benen bothering you for awhile now

Message from Ladiesman: but wtf set you ff just now?!

Message from Ladiesman: so i flatlined a couiple mins but im still here optimus sstill here

Message from Ladiesman: b seriusly wat set u off just now?

Message from Bumblebee: *sigh. I think Sides is right, I've gotten too used to having a civilian life again. I'm just bitter at the idea of having to let it go again. That and I'm still shaken up from almost loosing both you and Optimus.

Message from Bumblebee: So, I'm worried about you Sam. The stay at the base won't be long. We'll get this guy, I promise. I just don't understand why you are fighting this so hard.

Message from Ladiesman: Because b

Message from Ladiesman: once optimus finds out what happened to my hand I'm gone

Message from Ladiesman: once you kill this thing, i'm gone and youre gone

Message from Bumblebee: Sam, that's jumping the gun.

Message from Ladiesman: No IT'S NOT!!! they wanted to kick u off the planet ever since teh cons were scouting for the cub shard

Message from Ladiesman: icant believe they haven't figured it out yet! we;d al'; be dead if it wasn't for the autobots!

Message from Ladiesman: we blew upp] the harvester and defeated the copns an dthey barely allowed u to stay

Message from Ladiesman: they said you could as lo[ng as the m,.edia could b contained nd there was noppublic outcry

Message from Ladiesman: you saw how long THAT lasted ihavent evekn been in class for a motnh! now this happens

Message from Ladiesman: it was stup]id to thinkl that after 4 yrs no[bo[dy would no[tice anyting! hellm ost ppl already kl;ne soemthing s up the gov was just tryignt to get u into agreement just so you would shutup. htey klnew that this would happen they kl;new that within the month it wol;'ud be 'well we gave you a shot but now this happened so ceya.

Message from Ladiesman: if i go to basenow i basicly give up! I cant do that. youklnow i idnd't wnat to fight for you before and im sorry! I should have done soemthing then but i didnt. but i'm gonna fight for you now tho!!1

Message from Ladiesman: i dont trust the people who[p are tring to close dopwn nest and rit now most of them are in control. So I cna't do anthing unless i have help from leo[ and Mikleala. Which means the best place i can be is at the dorm nd not at base!

The rapid responses from Sam were so streaming in so fast they were almost on par to the Autobot's instant speed. Although his taped fingers weren't helping his writing any. Sam finally slowed down enough for a time gap.

Message from [][][][][][][][]: See Bumblebee, I told you they don't use English on these things.

Message from Bumblebee: Ironhide!!

Message from Ladiesman: Look B i know you're worried about me but your a soldier, you knwo that you have to put that on the backburner sometimes so you can do what you have to

Message from Ladiesman: Optimus needs to do what he needs to and I gotta do what I have to do

Message from Ladiesman: I'll be more careful ok and i'll be with Leo and all his friends. theres safety in numbers i'll be okl;ay

Message from Ladiesman: and before you go off fighting any decepticons i want you to rest and get healed first. I swear I'll sic ratchet after you fi you dont!

Message from Bumblebee: Sam,

Message from Ladiesman: Bite me Ironhide!

Message from Ladiesman: wasup?

Message from Bumblebee: remind me to kick your roommate's ass when this is over with.

Message from Ladiesman: lol ya rit youd give im a dirty look then hes gonna start bawling and then youll feel bad

Message from Ladiesman: :P

Sam paused for a moment, if anything to give his throbbing fingers a rest. There was a pause on Bumblebee's side as well.

His cellphone buzzed.

#Encrypted message* Sam, what set me off was that Starscream was in the area. He was looking over the bridge.

#Encrypted message* I don't like what's going down with this strange Decepticon. Nobody recognizes him, he doesn't act like the usual Decepticon would, and Sideswipe swears he regenerated a digit in a matter of seconds.

#Encrypted message* Not to mention that attack he hit me with that completely deadened my senses and left me completely vulnerable. An attack of that caliber is unheard of.

#Encrypted message* Worst of all is that he doesn't register on radar or rad detection or by any of us. We don't know where he is and we don't know where to find him!

#Encrypted message* Until he is destroyed we're all in danger.

"Well, if that's the case, then it really doesn't pay for me to go to base with you." Sam gave up on typing, his fingers felt worse than when they were first broken. "Please Bee, just trust me."

Message from Bumblebee: You know I trust you. This isn't about trust.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that, if we lose you, we're screwed anyways. I have to do what I can while there's still time!"

A reluctant reply.

Message from Bumblebee: I don't like this.

Another pause.

Message from Bumblebee: BUT YOU'RE NOT TAKING A CAB!!!!

* * *

"Yep." His stalky arms bolstered on his hips as he looked up to see the two by fours smashed in the inside peak of his garage. A manly statement as he looked over this natural disaster. "And had to replace the garage door a couple times." Ron Witwicky then lead the reporter and cameraman to the back yard.

"Is he dangerous at all?"

"Yeah, he's a menace to lawns everywhere." Ron stepped off his path briefly to pad down a tuft of sod that was riffling up onto his walkway. Beyond that was a dent in the lawn in the shape of a robot footprint. Mojo and Franky were out in the lawn. Franky was getting molested as usual. "Would you stop that!" Ron barked at the dog who were completely unfazed by his demand. "Can't, for the life of me get Bee to step on the damn dog though." He growled in his gruff manner. His face squinted as he really wished they never got a companion for Mojo since Sam would be gone to college. "Get outta here! Get!" A step towards the dogs and they scampered off to avoid Ron's wrath. "Filthy animals. Anyways,"

"Did Bumblebee do that?" Gawk and awe at the exterior walls of the house that weren't fully repaired yet. Most of the damage was repaired but there were considerable amount of remnants of a remodel going on. "Oh that?" A grunt of admission. "Bumblebee got a little, over protective." Without turning to see the wide eyes on him, he poised himself in defiance overlooking his house. "Sam had a piece of alien rock on his old sweater, turned all our kitchen appliances into mini terminators_._" Ron turned to the reporter, effectively facing the camera. "The kid drags home an alien robot, he's bound to make our lives interesting."

"Having something like that in your home must have been, very difficult."

A puff of chuckle. "Well it sure wasn't easy I can tell you that much!" A deep inhale and exhale. "Look, tell you the truth, I got nothing against the guy. It's just that, we have a modest yard, nice sized house, but it's just not big enough to be housing something seventeen feet tall and weighing four tons! It's just not. Look," Ron brushed an itch from his nose, "If anything, I hope blowing this whole thing wide open will help him out. You know, that's gotta be tough, hiding in a garage all day, staring at the wall. Yeah sure we had some issues. Who doesn't when you have someone in your home who doesn't understand the cultural divide. Granted it's a really big cultural divide. To be honest, Franky is far more destructive than Bumblebee ever was. Just the other day-" Ron continued to report how Franky tried eating the tires off of his lawn mower.

"Oh man." Sam's face fell into his hands. "Why did they have to drag my parents into this?"

"Why? You think it would stress them out?" Leo tilted his body over to get a better look at the little video clip streaming from Sam's monitor.

"No, because it's only a matter of time before they say something embarrassing." Speak of the devil, his mom's voice could be heard squawking in the background. A cut in the clip where both Ron and Judy were sitting in front of the camera expressing their personal accounts of living with the robot. He almost wanted to give up right then and there, especially when they started talking about issues his dad called 'the cultural divide'. As expected, his mother's lack of boundaries careened the topic into a deep, divulging and disturbing recount of explaining to the robot the concept of sex for pleasure. Sam guessed that his mother was taking those pills to calm her nerves again, because the amount of her horrifyingly disturbing details was just too much. He was at least thankful that she didn't get into any of those 'green' brownies while she was at it. The pills she was taking was the 'do not mix with other drugs' kind of pills. Because honestly, those pills made her loopy enough!

Sam survived the horrified and greatly amused gazes from the massive crowd that had taken loitering residence in his room. He had no idea how the general public would react so such a broadcast. To him it was horrifying as hell. To everyone else on campus it was apparently, funnier than hell. _Lovely._

He was so relieved when Mikaela went online for a chat date. He wasn't so much interested in the date part but rather to get a second opinion on how dead he was.

Unfortunately, Wheelie kept her particularly busy. While they chatted over the camera, Wheelie was in the background on the phone interrupting her every five or so minutes.

"Hey! What do you think of Thursday?" Wheelie bounded up onto the desk and hovered over the computer. His optics locked with Mikaela in the eyes. "Hey Sam." He muttered in greeting without bothering to look away from his Warrior Goddess. His lanky digits tapping her monitor somehow causing irritating feedback on Sam's computer. "Thursday? Book a flight Wednesday, stay at the Radison, do three interviews, I also was thinking about getting-"

"Wheelie, I don't think we can afford to do this kind of traveling." Mikaela twisted her eyes away, sulking at the constant interruptions.

"Oh don't worry about money, I'll get you the money."

"Wheelie, no! No steeling. I don't-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, I never said nuthing bout stealing! No no, when they getta look at us, it's gonna be a free ride all the way baby!" Wheelie jumped back down away from her desk for the ninetieth time today and started punching buttons away on her cellphone. He looked back to talk despite his body moving away. "I'm sure I could land you a book contract, hell! They may even make a movie about us! Wouldn't that be s- Hey, is this CNN? Hey, who'm I talking to?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes and blew out steam through her lips. Her elbow thudded the table as her head dropped into her balled hand.

"What. Is. He doing?" Sam glared at the monitor, watching him scuttle around in the background.

Wheelie's voice could still be picked up by Mikaela's mic. "Hey, yeah, you _say _you only want to talk to Sam. But I know! You don't really care about him, what you're interested in, is robots!"

"I don't know. I guess he thinks that since you did an interview, we should do one too." Mikaela shifted off her hand. She just got settled down again and babysitting her man-child father. Now Wheelie wanted her to pick everything up again and head out.

"Wheelie?" Sam gushed, almost horrified at the suggestion.

"Yeah, 'm he wants to help."

"Don't act like your surprised. Hey, tell you what. You set up this interview, with Mikaela Banes, you know, Sam's little hottie. And I'll get you a robot! As long as you don't mind that he's not the size of a car. Oh Yeah. A fun sized robot! Great size for traveling."

A pause to for once, to listen.

"Hey Mikaela! It's showtime!"

* * *

"You were a Decepticon?"

"Yeah, Technically. But that was before these guys! See, I didn't really get much of a say in anything. I mean hey, look at me! I'm a foot tall. You really think I'm gonna go up to big, bad and ugly and be 'hey I'm done here!'. I tell you, Cons ain't exactly a crowd you want to be fu- messin with. They'd rather tear you limp from limp rather than even look at ya. Believe you me, I've seen it happen hundreds of times over."

"Aren't you worried about them coming after you for betraying them?"

"Nah not really. I'm too much of a small fry. Sides they don't wanna mess with the Autobots after they joined up with you guys. I'll tell ya something, Autobots, they're a bunch of pacifists. They don't like killing, but after teaming up with you guys, oh, they went mean. Had to, cause the humans, they won't take any of this prisoner crap!" He fidgeted into a new posture, rather unsatisfied with the idea of _cushions_. "I heard they nearly had to kill one of their own. Yeah," Wheelie snapped his digits like one would snap fingers in thinking, "he lost his whole entire colony I heard, on some backwater moon. Flipped out and went on some revenge rampage after this Decepticon. Only he ended up doing it on human soil, yeah not pretty. He got smacked in line pretty good. Humans made sure of that. Oh he won't messing around with them ever again. Say hello to our new human overlords! Right Warrior Goddess? Oh yeah, she keeps me in line, but I like that. Hey!" Wheelie suffers from tangent leaps worse than Sam does. "You know that dumb Autobot mechanic fixed my eye wrong! Look at it! It's blue! Now I look like one of those genetically defunct huskies or something. At least what he could have done was make them both blue. Shesh. Anyways-"

"Is it really safe to let him talk like this?" A crowd was milled around a flatscreen tv.

This time Sam didn't even have the guts to watch it. He listened to it. Wheelie wasn't as terrible as he was expecting, of course, if he started humping legs . . .

"Hey Sam! How do I get a pet robot?"

"Hey Bro! I meant to tell you, Larry King wants to do an interview with us!"

Sam groaned but knew he had to accept his fate.

He was going to be a robot ambassador.

*

"So, who drives?" The strong and well known voice of Larry King asked from several monitors. After everything he's been through in these past few interviews, the odd and relaxed question seemed, almost alarming. Sam's eyes widened. After giving him the general 'how I know the robots' spiel he expected the more apocalyptic questions everyone else asks. Not, who drives!

"Who drives?" Sam repeated, almost choking on his surprise. "Uh, Bumblebee mostly. Not to say that I can't, I just discovered that I really, don't like driving that much. You know, especially when I have a perfectly good chauffeur."

"Has he ever gotten you a speeding ticket when he drives?"

Sam choked again, this time mixed up with confused laughter. "Uh, no." A quick debate whether or not he should continue. The hell with it, "but he has gotten me a few tickets for running red lights. See If there's nobody around, and the light is red, he sometimes forgets that he still has to stop."

"Has he ever done anything else to get you in trouble?"

"uh." Sam stared at the spring loaded trap.

"I wouldn't imagine anything serious, considering that you still hang around with him."

"Well um, actually yeah he got me arrested once."

"Arrested?" Larry sounded amused.

"Arrested?" Leo sounded shocked.

"Yeah, this was back when I first got him, actually this was right when I found out that he was actually an alien. See he drove off, and I thought, somebody stole my car! So I called the cops and I followed him, to some junk yard. That was where I saw him turn into the alien robot, for first time." His hand raised up in gesture. "I ended up getting arrested for trespassing and they thought I was so toked up on drugs."

Leo burst out in laughter. Sam did break into a embarrassingly large smile.

"Seriously!?" Leo gasped for breath only to start laughing again.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Alright lets take a call. Tracy from Indianan, you're on the air."

"Yeah, hi Larry," it was a woman's voice, "I just wanted to say, you know, people died because of these robots. I just don't think it's right that we put all those people who lost their lives, like on the bridge, and just throw them under the bus so that we can glorify this robot and his pet."

Leo shifted uneasily at the statement.

"Well I don't think Sam would appreciate being called a pet, but what do you have in response? Sam?"

Sam surprisingly felt calm being back in the coals he was used to. "Yeah, actually I'd say I agree with her, not the pet part! I mean I yell 'no, bad' at him far more than he does me, but yeah. I mean I do think it's unfair for all those people who got hurt and killed on the bridge and elsewhere to be ignored like this because of the coverage on Bumblebee. I mean, all of this ended up coming to the forefront like this, against better judgment." Sam's reference provoked an ashamed gaze from Leo. "Hey, even the best of us make mistakes right? Thing is, I don't want to be in the spotlight, Bee doesn't and the other robots certainly don't, but right now, we kind of have to." Sam licked his lips. "The secret is out. People do want to know, and it is, it's driving me crazy. And Bumblebee's been asking me for the past three days when this whole mess is gonna be over with. Uh-"

"And I'd like to say," Leo pipped in. "I don't think glorifying would be the right word. I've been covering this from the get go, and I think people were being harsh on Bumblebee. Bee did a really heroic thing out there, and he got thrown under the bus too."

Being a robot ambassador was exhausting. Between the webcam interviews, which made him thankful that he didn't have to travel around like Mikaela was doing, the revamping of Real Effing Deal, the creation of Transformers dot com, checking in with Bee, a lot more time consuming than one would expect, and explaining his story to each and every single person he came across for the nine millionth time, he wondered two things. Would he ever get to go to school and class ever again, and would he ever get a moment to sleep ever again.


	13. ACTION

_Meh last two chapters on both stories felt like flops. :( I hope this one goes over better._

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* * *

  
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**Ch 13**

**ACTION**

* * *

Nearly a week passed by. Given the full ability to rest, Bumblebee's repair cycles had more than enough time to clean up the tiniest of scratches. The gleaming Camaro sat in the hanger eagerly waiting for the other vehicles to return. He would have been out on patrol as well but he requested to stay in the hanger for a while longer. It was unlike him to turn down an action like that unless he had a lead he was looking into. Optimus obliged.

It was concluded that the more eyes out there, the better. Unknown to Sam, the Autobots were in high stress over their inability to track this Decepticon. The reason was because their newest recruit Hound was considered to be the best of the best when it came to tracking and scouting. If Bumblebee was the jealous type, he might have felt that Hound's sudden presence made him obsolete. Well in a way he was the jealous type. Correction, if Bumblebee was the type who always wanted a career in warfare he might have felt that Hound would have been intruding on his position. Regardless of that, Hound _couldn't_ even track the Decepticon. Of course he only had a few short weeks to get accustomed to the overwhelming number of strange scents on this planet. Sniffing out the familiar Cybertronian would have seemed like an easy task. As it was, he could not pick out anything familiar and constant. So Sam and Bumblebee set forth a challenge on Real Effing Deal and Transformers dot com. For any one who was following the websites manned by Sam, Leo, Fassbinder and Sharsky, report anything strange and get video and audio if you can. Of course, it was lettered out in big, red, bold writing that if it was risky for you're lives, don't do it, and please, please, pretty please, because this is very important, don't spam us and bog us down with things that are so stupid just to get attention. That rule wasn't heeded of course. The time Bumblebee spent not in recharge was spent on riffling through the thousands of responses that came through. He never expected it to be as overwhelming and exhausting as it was, but in the end it was worth it.

* * *

"Bumblebee?" Optimus returned, surprised to get a request from his scout to have everyone return for a conference. Bumblebee stood poised and ready to be soldierly. Soon the other Autobots rolled up as well. They were ready for any information the scout might offer them.

The packet was zipped and uploaded. A video of what looked to be a silhouette of a large creature was caught on digital film in an abandoned area. Bumblebee went through great lengths to interview the one who found this video as well as others who pointed to the suspicious activity. They were no doubt terrified yet ecstatic to get the attention of an alien robot, but for Bumblebee the information meant far more.

If this information turned out to be true, the Decepticon was more under Bumblebee's metaphysical nose than he previously thought. A disturbing thought. The area this was recorded in was on Cantermound road. It became a possibility that the Decepticon didn't track them via cellphone text messages, but rather, because Bumblebee and Sam nearly stumbled upon the Decepticon's hiding spot. He even continued to hide under the nose of the military. Sure the area was briefly looked over, but because of the explosion at the propane depot, more attention was paid to the cleanup. The rest of the attention was spent scouring the streets and backtracking the battle field, not looking at untouched buildings in the area.

Either this Decepticon was a pure genius, or a pure idiot.

* * *

A crude video recorded from a cellphone uploaded to an alien and now uploaded over the instant messenger client.

Message from Ladiesman:: thats

Message from Ladiesman:: no way Bee!

Message from Guardian:: That means he probably didn't use your cellphone.

Sam sat back in his chair astounded by the video he was watching. He could barely make out what going on because the quality was so bad, but it clear enough for his heart to drop into his guts.

Message from Ladiesman:: make that bastard pay!

Message from Ladiesman:: and Bee, you better be alive at the end of this.

* * *

Now that a general location was probable Hound was quick to pick up the trail. A smashed wall here, a broken ceiling there, dents in the earth but like before, no energy reading. No spark signature detected. Which was even baffling to him. Scouts like Bumblebee had the ability to mask the scent of their signature, but he never came across a dampener as powerful as this. Unless he happened to not be here. Regardless, now the large building was surrounded by a varied array of sport vehicles, utility vehicles and military vehicles.

Guns on the back of the vehicles were prepped and ready to go. Helicopters flew overhead and surveyed the area. The flashy vehicles remained at that, flashy vehicles. Men in thick body gear moved forward weaving between the vehicles towards the building. Hiding at the walls they peered into the old shattered windows. Darkness was expected. A light was shot through the broken window giving a narrow stream of what to expect inside. So far, nothing. Before the men moved into position they noticed that the outside wall refracted the light from the flashlight. A hand was brought up and tested the exterior wall. As the soldiers spent nearly their every waking hour in the presence with the Autobots, their senses picked up things that would have been completely unnoticed by their fellow man. On the outside wall of the building, minuscule pin pricks danced across their fingertips. A hand was brought back and his gun was lifted farther. The building was protected by a force field. A nod and then a signal to the others. They surrounded the building ready to break in. Everyone was in their places. Everyone was ready. Twelve vehicles, ranging from motor bikes to hybrid to sports to heavy duties to a pewter truck all began clanking and clicking as metal pieces pulled part. Then pieces slipped together again in an impressive array of spinning and sliding metal to reveal twelve robots. Cannons wielding, electrical whips charging, saws spinning. All optics focused on the building. So it came to their surprise when the crash came from behind them.

"Get away from there!" The Decepticon hollered at them. The humans would have to wait to get their translation. The Decepticon stepped forward and cracked his arm across a surprised Jolt. Jolt collapsed to the ground as all Autobots and humans turned their attention to the Decepticon. This was the moment Ironhide had been waiting for. Find something to make the Decepticon stick around for his deserved punishment. And he had punishment to give! All cannons unleashed from the black behemoth. Ratchet dodged around behind him lacing in with his machine gun. The helicopters roared overhead and the humans unleashed their volley of sabot rounds. The humans on the ground sprayed him with their specialized bullets made to penetrate cybertronian armor.

The roar and clatter took the Decepticon by surprise. He tripped backwards crashing to the ground. Sideswipe and Bumblebee took the advantage to leap onto the prone bot and unleash their fists and swords at his chest. The Decepticon growled and flicked

Sideswipe off and pulled Bumblebee down.

"You want to fight!?" Arms exploded into cannons and they raised, taking potshots at the crowd. The crowd scattered, but continued to spray their target with firepower and metal. To give himself some room the Decepticon took a step back. The Autobots swiftly surrounded him. His cannon flickered into a new configuration and it was launched into the ground. Bumblebee warbled out in horror when he knew what to expect. Frantically he broke rank and made a hasty retreat. The humans yelped in surprise when Bumblebee took the quickest exit, which meant jumping over the unsuspecting fighters. The other Autobots backed up quickly as well, getting Bumblebee's non-frantic frantic message to retreat from the attack. Skids and Mudflap stood confused trying to figure out what the military lingo was supposed to mean. The green cloud with sparking energy wrapped around the ground. Seeing the retreat, they backed away from the green gas as well, but not before it wrapped around Skids, rendering him unconscious.

"Do something about that cloud!" Ratchet hissed while surveying the area. They were running out of room to avoid the fog. Luckily the humans seemed to be unaffected by the cloud. They continued to attack.

"Watch out!" Ironhide yelled to his human comrades as he leapt forward crashing a few feet in front of them. He slammed his weapons down to create a shock wave. It ruptured forwards. The land blasting away in a crescent away from Ironhide. What few windows remained in the buildings shattered. The weakest buildings crumbled to the wave of power. The dust that kicked away dispersed the cloud. Now they could attack again, but so far they lost Jolt, Hound and Prowl to its effects. Skids and Mudflaps weren't the only one confused over Bumblebee's form of communication. "Damnit." Ironhide growled. Then he was forced to dodge from the lounging Decepticon. Rolling to flank, Ironhide pummeled the Decepticon in the back.

Optimus's swords keeled downwards, striking the Decepticon's chest. He fell back and Ironhide grabbed his arms pinning them behind his back. The Con growled and turned trying to break free. He slipped out of Ironhide's grasp right as Ratchet stepped forward with his saws to try and cut the foe down. Instead, the saws skittered deep into the Decepticon's armor, jammed, then one saw blade snapped off of it's joints. Ratchet reeled back in surprise. The Con reached forward grabbing the medic, first crashing his fist across his face and then throwing him to the ground. All the while the humans continued to lace him with bullets from all around. As well as any other mech who wasn't in the immediate fray or prone.

"Stop that!" The Decepticon growled turning and grabbing Ironhide. His claws pierced Ironhide's thick armor and crumpled the interior of the vehicle plating. Then he was picked up and thrown into Arcee and her sister. The Decepticon turned, grabbing Optimus's sword before it penetrated his armor again. He tossed the blade aside. He then coupled his fists, bricking them across Optimus's face in wide swings back and forth until the Autobot fell back with a gasp. Bumblebee ran forward, launching his missiles as he did. They struck and seemed to at least make some damage. He jumped forward, but was intercepted by a larger body. He cracked into the ground with the weight of the gigantic robot rolled over him, crushing him. But the Decepticon didn't take interest in finishing off Bumblebee, instead his attention was turned to the humans buzzing around him, pelting him with their weapons. He growled and to the Autobots' horror, threw out explosions all around them. The humans either fell or scattered.

The Decepticon picked himself up again and looked over the damage. His multiple sets of optics keenly studied the building. Before walking towards it, he turned and crashed any Autobot who challenged him back towards the ground.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing." Epps muttered grimly as he watched the Decepticon hover above him. Lennox didn't respond right away, rather he withered in pain while grasping at his leg. Before acknowledging how badly he was injured he looked up to see what Epps was watching. The body was going through a rapid procession of glowing blue symbols across his body. As soon as they dispersed, so did the damage he had sustained. "Oh hell no!" That was very bad news.

The building was fine, but the ones who almost destroyed it weren't going to be. Optics flickered to a deeper red. He turned back around to over look the Autobots who were regrouping themselves. Four were still unconscious and Mudflap was too busy freaking out over his brother.

For their second charge, Optimus was the first to attack. Again his searing hot energy blades slashed forward. A flash of speed the Decepticon grabbed one between his hands. The heated blade steamed against the Decept's hands. Before Optimus could react, the Decepticon slammed his momentum to the side snapping the blade at hand. Prime stepped aside, swinging almost wildly with his good sword. Only the Decepticon parried with his half of Optimus's blade. The quick cooling blade was swung at Prime's chest. He almost failed to block it. Optimus's blades clanked across each other in a few more strikes. With Prime suddenly getting the feeling that the skill level jumped with this character. The Con's eyes glinted in satisfaction. Then faster swings, more powered and Optimus found himself on the defensive. Slashes were getting embedded into his armor as he failed to defend all the attacks off. Optimus was realizing he was on the loosing end. The other Autobots intervened not interested in having a repeat of loosing their leader. Dusk kicked wildly as one Decepticon started hand to hand combating five Autobots. Only it wasn't the Autobots who were dealing out the blows. A few jabs in he managed to snap back Sideswipe's arm, forcing him to cringe out temporarily. A foot crumpled Bumblebee back a few buildings in. Chromia was made into a crater without her comet alt which caused Arcee to drop out of the fight shrieking at the shock of possibly loosing another fraction of her spark. And when Prime returned to his feet, the Decepticon made sure he didn't return to his feet again. With the battle royal lying at his feet, he turned to the ranged fighters. Ironhide and Ratchet were blown back with a powerful cannon blast at a short distance.

With a low rumble deep inside his body he reached down grabbing Optimus by a jutting piece of metal on his chest pulling him to his feet. As he looked over the Autobot for the easiest way to dispatch him, a blazing spear struck his head. Blue energy snapped across the chain and into the metal edge slicing electricity into the Decepticon. Howling out in pain he grabbed the chain. Below Jolt's optics widened. Prowl and Hound were slowly making their way up to their feet. Optimus was pushed back. The hand wrapped around the chain once, and then was pulled forward, twisting it up and around his head, drawing a circular momentum over his head. The hapless Autobot was forced into the ride. The chain was released when Jolt went crashing into the ground. Prowl and Hound went in for the attack. Circling around, trying to crack their fists and weapons into the Decepticon's shell. The Decepticon stepped back allowing him the room to counter the two. Sideswipe slipped onto his wheels and slashed from behind. Trying to take out his foot joints, trying anything to at least cripple him. While the blade didn't go deep enough to cause lasting damage it was enough to knock the Decepticon's balance from under him. He slipped back and crashed into the corner of the building with the force field. The force field ruptured momentarily and a blast of powerful energy ripped forward. The charge unleashed a pulse strong enough to wash over the landscape with powerful energy. One that was unmistakable. All Spark energy.

After the shock passed, Bumblebee slipped away from the building to see what was happening. The Decepticon's hand was still gripped tightly to the edge of the wall. Getting over the surprise and shock of the energy that just saturated their systems, all the Autobots prepped up their weapons yet again.

"No! Why, why are you doing this? We need to be one," his gaze then fixed on Bumblebee, "but you act in favor of the traitor! Why?" He now sounded frantic. Optics jumped from Bumblebee to everyone else around him. "Why do you make me hurt you!? I don't want to hurt you! This can't, you can't, we are on the same side!" He glances at Ratchet and seeing him give aid to Lennox. "But the humans, No! They are worthless, piles of worthless bags of water to be tossed to the fodder. You understand! You do! Don't you?"

"Ratchet, something tells me he isn't quite right in the circuits." Jolt muttered weakly.

"A very astute observation, Jolt." Ratchet replied. His optics quickly surveyed how many were still capable of fighting.

"One doesn't! No! He protects them, he protects _him! _He has to die! They both have to! ALL HUMANS MUST DIE!!" The Decepticon lounged for the humans and Bumblebee. Ironhide threw his arm out to trip him. He crashed to the ground as the humans struggled to retreat.

"The only one who's going to die tonight is you!" Teetering on one knee he armed up his cannon and launched bolt into the Decepticon's hip. It was poor shot as Ironhide was barely able to lift his arm up. But out of all the blasts that hit him so far, this one did the most damage to this Decepticon. The Decepticon howled in pain as chunks of metal cascaded across the ground. He turned back with a new found set of horror in his optics. Ironhide lingered on the trigger with surprise. Suddenly his spark signature could be detected. Slowly Ironhide realized something, "He's weakened! Attack him now!" Taking all his strength to keep himself balanced he threw both arms in the air and unleashed his firepower. The Decepticon screeched as he was pelted with multiple rockets that breached his armor.

"Don't let him get away!" With a refreshing burst of optimism the Autobots struggled back to their feet. Fireballs ripped through and blades slashed at him. The Decepticon abandoned his precious building. He transformed to make a hasty retreat. Horror for loosing him yet again rocketed through the group of fighters. Despite their own injuries, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jolt, Arcee and Chormia laced on the speed to go after him. Optimus pulled out his weapon and after a few well placed aims, struck the fleeing jet and it slowly drifted back to Earth.

* * *

Thrusters couldn't pull in the power to send him higher into the altitude. Every ounce of energy was being forced through his engines to keep him just beyond the Autobots grasp. They were not going to give up so easily. A trip down Interstate 95 the five vehicles floored it and weaved through traffic to keep up with the Decepticon. Military jets flew overhead. Missiles struck the Decepticon's body, crumpling a piece of armor and sending it crashing into the ground. He transformed and turned, lacing his own return shots into the jets, blowing all three of them away. Then he turned his attention to the Autobots below, making a single crater that engulfed Sideswipe who was in the lead. Back to a jet again, loosing even more altitude as he continued his escape.

Sideswipe skittered out of the blast, his engine smoking and pouring steam into the air. Engine vamped as he growled out in anger. He tore off again, unfazed by the damage. Bumblebee transformed, watching a balloon of fabric in the sky above him. Those jets were too close to the ground for the fighters to rely on their parachutes to soften their landing.

Prowl flew by giving Bee a very dissatisfied look for exposing himself. Bumblebee didn't care. He carefully caught the human who was descending, extending out his force field to soften his fall. He was the only human he could see. Fret flooded his system knowing the other two didn't eject in time. Stepping around the tarred road, Bumblebee glanced around. Then he quickly approached a white van. The driver had stepped out to watch the action around him. Now he turned terrified when he saw the yellow robot approach him. Bumblebee tried to counter him, holding forward the unconscious human to show his intentions.

#Lassie, get help! Get help Lassie!# Bumblebee carefully set the pilot down, turned and transformed to catch up with the others.

Rage was getting the better of him, Sideswipe laced on more speed than his systems could currently handle. But the Decepticon was so close to coming down, parts were literally falling off of him. A forty five minute drive for people normally eking in their fifteen mile by was reduced to twenty minutes by these vehicles' speed. The Decepticon was changing course. Flying away from the road. The Autobots each grated deep down. There has always been drawbacks to the human vehicles. They were so hampered by things such as water and lack of roadways. It was clear where the Decepticon was going, he was going to plunge into the bay to escape their assault. Recalculating their routes and pushing their vehicle modes to the limit they were just barely able to keep up enough to see the Decepticon hover over the large body of water. Already he was out of range for Sideswipe. Arcee and Chormia plowed out onto a dock terrifying the people who were fishing there. The humans spilled into the water as Arcee and Chormia transformed, exposing themselves and all their sleek machinery. They continued to fire at the enemy.

Sideswipe transformed growling and throwing a fit of Cybertronian curses into the air as he watched the Decepticon drift past his range. Jolt drifted to his side, staying inside his car mode hissing about the loss as well.

"Sideswipe! Do not expose yourself!" Prowl demanded even though it was already too late. He was about to snarl at the two sisters as well but stopped to gasp seeing that they not only exposed themselves, but managed to terrify two soaking wet humans who lingered at the base of the dock.

"Slag it Prowl, I will _not_ let this bastard get away!" He skipped over the railing over looking the beach. He glanced back to see the police vehicle just sit there. "Prowl! Do something!"

To Prowl's side Jolt pulled himself out of his shell. He transformed out a type of rocket launcher onto his shoulder. Hoisting it up on the now tiny target, he aimed and he blasted. A blue ball of energy bulbed at the end then a lightning strike cracked between the weapon and the Decepticon. An explosion and more pieces flaked away. The jet lost all momentum and crashed into the ocean. Optics brightened on Sideswipe. He plowed into the body of water and disappeared under the waves.

Unable to do anything else, the two sisters returned to Prowl's side. In their vehicle form, trying to appear harmless. Bumblebee parked next to them and Jolt returned to his alt mode. Prowl was tempted to reprimand them all for exposure, but right now, he was still trying to get Sideswipe to respond to him.

A quarter of an hour passed and still no response from Sideswipe. Prowl went into his reprimand while the other vehicles sat there idly taking in his rage. Considering that a screaming car was just as conspicuous as their robotic forms it was rather ironic.

Half an hour passed and Optimus requested they return to the location where they found the Decepticon. For obvious reasons, to examine what the Decepticon had been hiding. Still no sign of Sideswipe.

An hour. Nothing except vehicles who actually appeared to be nervous. For two reasons, one was of course still no sign of Sideswipe. The other was the mounting number of humans watching them.

More hours. Whatever Optimus and the others found back in that building must have been important. They haven't even sent Skids or Mudflap to retrieve them. Now there was a police line blocking a hoard of people from the Autobots. If robot cars could sweat, they'd be sweating bullets.

"Damnit! Where is he?" Prowl growled. Bumblebee slipped forward, ready to go down there to look for him. "Bumblebee! Stay here." Bee twitched on his wheels then rolled back. More grueling time passed by.

Then finally, a large humanoid figure could be made drifting out of the water. Sideswipe's body drained out the excess of water from his systems. His injuries were now noticeably taking their toll. His body slumped weakly but he still held up tall and proud. A little too proud, as he strolled up towards them in a defiant manner. Way too proud for Prowl's taste, as he _still_ disobeyed his order to disguise himself. The vehicles reversed to make room for him on the road above.

"What were you doing down there?" Prowl huffed yet again. In irritation for getting bothered with that question for the thousandth time, Sideswipe crushed a hollowed out husk the size of his fist onto the concrete below. If they were in robot form, their optics would have widened.

"He's dead!?" Arcee questioned in surprise as she keenly studied the spent spark. Sideswipe slumped to a knee and nodded.

"We need to get back to the others."

* * *

Message from Guardian:: Sam!

Message from Guardian:: We got him! We got that SOB!!

-

Message from Guardian:: Sam?


	14. More Questions than Answers

******

AHHH _Cliffhangers!!! I know right, it's like a bad Saturday morning cartoon!! :D_

**Ch 14**

**More Questions than Answers**

Hours ago.

Sam hovered over his computer. It would be nice if Bumblebee would give him a life line every once in a while. You know, to let him know that he was still, you know, _alive! _Of course what Bumblebee was doing was too big to keep to himself. Though by now, Sam should know better. Since Mikaela was still off across the country and he was without phone he couldn't tell her. This obviously wasn't something he'd announce to his parents especially in the slow almost snail mail speed of email, so Sam told Leo.

Not long after, Sam checked the websites' status to see that Leo thought it would be nice to tell the whole world where a major robot fight was about to take place. Great so his car was going to be in another exciting watchable episode of Robot Wars, _again_! Not only that, but it could compromise the Autobots' plan of attack. Sam sent a few frantic messages to his guardian and like the aggravating world that he lived in that included giant robots, Bumblebee wasn't responding. His head dropped down into his hands pulling his hair back on end. He was so tempted to just rip it out. He needed some stress relief. He was going to go scream at Leo.

Sam had the room to himself. Locked for a reason. As soon as he opened the door, it was as if every person on campus was loitering out in the hallway. Sam huffed and rolled his eyes and had to play 'don't step on the people' just to go two doors down.

"Leo!" Sam burst into the 'control' room.

"Not now bro, we have some new footage coming in!"

"Leo! You can't be doing shit like this! You could jeopardize the Autobots' attack!" Outside of being crammed full of computers, it seemed like there were more people in here than the four walls even had room for.

"Yeah I know, look some people were already there asking what was going on. I didn't say anything until _after_ the fighting broke out."

"They're fighting now?" Sam somehow was able to slip past seven people without even trying.

He warmed up to the monitor that was playing choppy footage of explosions at a distance closer than safe. So nice to see that their other rule in big red writing went ignored as well. The whole don't put yourselves in danger rule. Bumblebee would be so ticked, though Sam wasn't going to complain. This was currently his only source to know how Bumblebee was doing. Shoving his irritation aside Sam became just as infatuated with the video feed as everyone else in the room. Even if most of the fighting could only be somewhat heard among the static wind interference and not seen. About ten video clips in from five different people were they finally able to see the robots in action. Then there was absolutely nothing. No video uploads and no texting. Eager befuddled anticipation set in. After long grueling moments it was reported that a shock wave rolled over them crushing buildings all around. There was a reason why that rule was there! One by one the other phones returned either recording the event or texting it. Two people reported that they were retreating from the area. The other three were far more bold. One even getting close enough so that Sam could see who was where among the Autobots. He was also able to see the Decepticon getting struck back into a building. It wasn't comforting, all the other Autobots had been dropped to their knees. Then, something strange happened with the video. Something right at the end, right before it was stopped to be uploaded.

"What was that?" Sam mumbled, stretching himself closer to the monitor. Unfortunately the video was too pixilated to get a grasp of what.

"What was what?" Leo looked up at Sam. Sam reeled back, suddenly feeling extremely dizzy. He took a step back.

"Sam!?" His name quavered inside his head. "Hey you okay?"

"What? Yeah." He felt so dizzy. He felt something cold run over his lip. And why was he on the floor? He brought up his hand to his lip to discover a fountain of blood had dribbled onto it. "Oh shit." He braced himself and brought his hands up to collect it.

"Hey get him a towel or something!"

A towel was presented. Sam's eyes looked up at it in question. The towel belonged to Fassbinder or Sharsky, who knows if those things are even clean or not! And if not, he didn't want to think about it. Despite that he took it, he was bleeding like a sieve and something had to catch it. His hands weren't stopping it from flowing all over the floor. He picked his head back and worked to catch the blood into the towel and to let it drain back inside his head. Ugg it tasted like he was chewing on Bee's wiring. Okay, never actually done that, it tasted like pennies. Still gross.

"You okay? That was one hell of a dive into the corner."

"Yeah I'm fine." He curled down his lips pulling his skin around to test if his nose felt broken or not. He picked himself off of the ground and headed towards the bathrooms. It took ten minutes to stop the bleeding and get everything cleaned up. He returned to the room eager to get a report of what was happening. All he got was unsure glances.

"That guy hasn't responded yet. None of them have."

"Guys! Check the news!" Another random body dashed into the room. All bodies rushed out of the situation room and into other dorms with tvs broadcasting how a bunch of cars were currently chasing down an alien jet down the freeway. That was covered for nearly an hour without much video to go on. Then the incident at the bay where a handful of cars waited around for their comrade to return from the ocean waters. There was clear video that time, a bunch of shiny cars and motorcycles. Through the hours they patiently waited for the silver robot to emerge on to the beach. Sam was just relieved to see the yellow striped Camaro sitting there in one piece. Otherwise everything else was too hard to grasp with the splitting headache Sam was experiencing. Probably when he fell. He wasn't even sure why he did. The simple fact that he had been exhausted this past week from the countless interviews he went through seemed to be as good a reason as any. He followed the random bits of news and the massive amount of fluff the tv portrayed for as long as he could stand it. After a while when his headache wasn't dispersing on its own, he went to find some medicine to numb out his pain.

Again he had to wallow through the people. Sam groaned with irritation and made it through to his room again. Once again the door lock twisted. Sam then went rummaging through his stuff for anything pain reliever.

"Sam!" A female voice from down the hall. She took one look at the hall that was overpopulated with people. All sat idly streaming the news and websites with their electronics in hands completely ignoring her. She waited for them to move. She growled. "What is wrong with you people!?" They barely even acknowledged that she wanted to get through. The people who did look up at her jumped to their feet to allow her passage. In a huff she started stepping around bodies while calling out for her boyfriend's name again.

"Hey! We're walking here! Get out of the way will ya!?" Wheelie jumped to the defensive. As soon as he hit the floor bodies flew up to their feet and cowered to the walls. "Shesh. Are you all dumb or sumthin? This isn't exactly a five star hotel out here!" He continued to mumble, shooing the people aside. All eyes locked onto the _real effing deal!_ A real live robot!

Mikaela rolled her eyes at the people who were suddenly giving her a full salute of attention.

She reached out to Sam's door but before she could rap her knuckles against it, it opened up for her.

"Mikaela!" Sam sounded ever so shocked to see her. She was disappointed, she wanted to hold a stone dead stoic face, but his excited, yet shocked expression made her crack into half a smile.

"Hey Sam." He stood still kind of stunned. "What? You don't have another femmebot giving you tongue service in there do you?" She threw on her bitch face while looking around the corner.

"What?No! I - I was just surprised to see you- here! What are you doing here!?" Before she could respond he presented a cute aww moment by hugging her. That aww moment left Wheelie acting as if he was going to hurl up a iron lung in the background. He went ignored.

"I needed a break. And since I was flying all over the country anyways, I thought I'd come by to see how you were doing."

Sam was wincing away his headache. He should be ecstatic but he still couldn't focus. So much so that he barely even noticed that the little Decepticon had made himself at home. Realizing that he was getting a worried expression from his lack of response he cleared his throat.

"Sorry, I have this, killer headache right now." Without farther explanation Mikaela presented a bottle of pain relievers. "You are a life saver. You know that?"

Cheering was heard out in the hall way. Sam winced back the pain. He downed the pills without water.

"So what's going on? You have like fifty people living in your hall way."

"Yeah, it's, it's insane." A pause. "Have you been able to pay attention to the news lately?" Her expression turned sour meaning she was irritated with such a dumb question. Of course not, she's been either in the air or on the road. Sam jumped to the explanation before she could say anything. "The Autobots had attacked that Decepticon so now," Sam moved to the door and motioned her to follow, "now we're waiting to hear how everything turned out." Sam glanced back at Mikaela. He opened the door and jumped back in surprise when he nearly thought he was going to get jumped by a bunch of people who were hovered outside his door.

"Hey, they got him!"

***

"Will!" Ironhide's voice drifted. Ironhide was knelt down over Lennox observing the damage. Ratchet was busy giving aid to the wounded. Helicopters were landing and running out to help. Now that the imminent threat was gone, it wouldn't be long before the clean up crew would arrive. Optimus's attention was grabbed by a sharp howl that belonged to someone he didn't recognize. A little ways from the battle field Optimus picked up human signatures that did not belong to his party.

"Get it off! Get it off!" The young man toppled to the ground shrieking while a small mechanoid creature was trying to claw into him. All yelling and shrieking stopped when two massive digits, a thumb and a pointer finger respectively reached over and plucked the small non-biological organism off of the man. He shifted back in the dirt while Optimus pulled the small creature to his view. It squirmed frantically under the pin. "That was my cell phone! It just- it turned into that!" Optimus blinked to get specks of dust off his optics. It was unmistakable, the energy that exploded out of that building was the same energy as the All Spark. New life, but unfortunately, not one that was safe for this planet. The slightest of pressure and the plastic and metal creature ceased to be.

"Are you hurt?" Optics blinked and he refocused his attention to the man. He stared up at Optimus.

"Holy! You're freaking huge!" He gaped in dismay. He scuttled to his feet as his eyes were glued to the giant. "Nah, just, cuts and scratches. I'll be fine." The man broke away eye contact to dust off his coat. Optimus twitched in surprise.

"You don't seem to be afraid of me."

The man's eyes jumped back up to him. "Yeah well, intimidated, sure! But afraid, nah. You're one of the good guys right? I don't have anything to fear. Right? Well, except for getting stepped on anyways? Geez you things-guys look freaking huge in person!"

Two other civilians peered over at Optimus from amongst some rubble. Sam's endeavor seemed to have some effect at calming down the civilians. A surprising well of relief flooded over him seeing them look at him without fear. He paused and looked down at the smashed sparkling in his fingers. He rolled it down into his palm and studied it carefully. The other two civilians slowly approached from their hiding places. Optics picked up to fix on them.

"If you're not injured then I must kindly ask you to leave. We have some things that must be dealt with and I fear you're presence will only complicate matters." Optimus stood to his highest height. They nodded. In return he bowed his head and walked back to where Ironhide and Ratchet were waiting for him.

"We lost seven." Ratchet reported in a matter of factly tone. One devoid of the rage and anger that deep down everyone knew he felt. Optimus glanced around and vented. Ratchet was still administering medical aid to a soldier while others were being loaded up into the helicopters. Ironhide was observing the damage while the others were out searching for any that could be trapped under rubble. Among the rubble, one building stood untouched.

Optimus walked up to the building. His hand rested down on it to feel the intensity of the force field. He couldn't recollect a time when he came across one so powerful. Optics scoured the structure. There must be an opening somewhere. He followed along the building until he reached the South corner. There a large chunk of building had been removed. It was easily big enough for Optimus to slip through. He carefully let the foreign force field wrap around him as to not breach it, and then slipped inside.

There he instantly felt his own force fields strengthen and crackle against high levels of radiation. Not the All Spark radiation either. In fact there wasn't a trace of the All Spark's energy anywhere. His optics narrowed in confusion. Cords and wires hung sporadically throughout the interior. In some places so disheveled and discombobulated in that he found himself walking into a dead end too thick of cords and machinery to give him passage. The engineering was made from human electronics rehashed into something resembling Cybertronian technology. Optimus back tracked and found another path to walk through. Wires and cords brushed against his armor. It was more akin to walking through a jungle on training exercises rather than a sophisticated device. He walked to a clearing. Hanging among the wires was a set of control panels. He picked one up to examine it. Optics and his brow like structure furrowed. The display was in ancient Cybertronian. He himself scarcely knew what was written. He could make out a few assortment of numbers but the majority of data listed was lost on him.

"Ratchet, when you can, I need your assistance." He muttered outloud through his internal communications with Ratchet. His grip on the control panel slipped away. It bounced to gravity and a few feet away the motion caused pieces of the device to crash onto the floor. A shockwave of explosive energy errupted, nearly negating through Optimus's shield. He stood stunned a moment at the high dangers this room presented. He made his way back to the opening. Not long after Ratchet's form appeared.

Without a word, Ratchet took to his new task. They worked in silence, intently observing the device.

"Whatever this is, it is so crudely put together that it can only be considered dangerous. I believe the words I'm looking for is, a ticking time bomb." Ratchet informed as he pulled himself out of his intensely focused studies. Optimus hmmed to himself. "If the force field sheltering this device is breached, there's enough radiation in here to wipe out the entire city. Not to mention what might happen if this thing explodes." He stopped a few feet from Optimus and followed the wires along the roof.

"When Arcee and the others return we will need to assemble a team to somehow find a way to safely destroy this device." Optimus then packaged orders to his team. He called for Prowl, Bumblebee, Arcee, Chromia, Sideswipe and Jolt to return. The twins to guard the entrance and make sure no humans enter and for the remaining Autobots to help examine the device.

**

Message from Ladiesman:: Oh shit! Bee I'm so sorry for not responding! Are you there?!?

Message from Guardian:: Sorry can't chat now.

Sam's hand came up to cradle his head as he cursed to himself. He was so eager to hear a reply from Bumblebee and when he finally did, Sam wasn't there. He could have kicked himself. He shrugged an exasperated shrug of defeat. And that medicine didn't seem to be working at all! Sam turned back to see that he hadn't locked the door this time, and once again it was populated with people. Everyone wanted to see Wheelie. They also wanted to know what information Sam got from the robots. Which wasn't much except that the giant robot was destroyed. The most current nightmare was over!

***

Sideswipe and the others returned with eager news that the Decepticon had been destroyed.

Optimus sighed in realization. "Unfortunately, I feel this is far from over."

The sweet victory seemed bitter sweet. The cleanup they were left with wasn't the usual tag and bag and get the hell out of there. Instead, there was a dangerous device that needed to be dealt with. What it was, nobody was sure. What made matters worse was that Lennox had been seriously injured. William Lennox was their buoy inside the government to keep them on good terms with the humans. With out him, even their bargaining chip of this direly hazardous device might not be suitable enough. Almost as soon as Optimus expected it, he was given an order for all Autobots to return to the hanger for farther directions.

***

_Yeah I know, short chapter :\ and I'm fifteen minutes past my deadline. Opps. Anywho, yeah did you think it was over with XD. I spent a day thoroughly plotting the story out. I am guesstimating it will be between 25 to 40 chapters long. Depending on how creative I get per chapter. Wowzer._


	15. Uneasy Goodbyes

_**Ah yes, and Happy finals week! You poor souls. XD **_  
_OMGs I can't believe I'm on Chapter 15 already. No way could I image at the beginning how strong this story would continue to feel even as I got half way through. The fact that I've been fairly consistent with doing an upload almost every week and still manage to fight through my uncreative periods is pretty impressive to me. Now if only I could get other people I follow to update more often O.o __'_

**Ch 15**

**Uneasy Goodbyes**

Fassbinder and Sharkatron stared at him from across the room. The room was as empty as it had been since the whole thing blew open. The people who dared to get close enough had their eyes fixed on him as well. The little robot was too busy cussing and growling over a game of Counter Strike to even notice that all eyes were on him.

"Leo! There is a robot fpsing on my computer!" Binder could barely contain his freak out.

"Dude I can't believe this! Why are we the last ones to get the scoop on this? Leo we're your cogs man!"

"Uh, correction. I told you primo off the bat. You didn't believe me! Remember?" Leo snapped back.

"Yeah well, you were coming off as some raving fangirl!"

"Yeah and you rather believe Robowarrior over me. You know, I'll remember that for next time!"

"Oh come on! He had tons of intel, and besides, it's not like you showed us _your_ proof!

"Yeah! Why didn't you like introduced us!!"

"Guys!" Sam growled to interrupt the three. "Seriously, I am getting so sick of hearing this over and over again! It's been like two weeks now. Okay? Just drop it. Yes, I really do believe that robots exist! Yes, Mikaela has a robot. Yes, Leo has met them. Yes, Simmons _is_ Sector Seven. He is also Robowhatever. Now, there's a robot playing on your computer, great. End of story!" His tone turned to deadpan irritation. "Why do you keep bringing it up? Just please drop it already!" He was given a long winded stare. Anyone else besides Binder and Shark would have been a glare. "Okay look, I have this massive headache, and you guys are seriously not helping. I mean it's not exactly like I can just hang out in the peace of my own room because, well the way that there's like fifty million people around here, I have no peace in my own room!" At that Sam growled and plowed back down into the world presented on his laptop. Mikaela was quick to mirror Sam's irritation for his benefit. He seemed to have a lot of patience considering he had been unfortunate enough to have to deal with this since the beginning.

The room went quite for a moment. Only for a moment before Fassbinder simply started the conversation right back at where it ended.

"I still can't believe you were hanging out with government."

"Yeah and wasn't Bumblebee like totally Area 51ed by him? Totally harsh for hanging around his tormentor!"

"Well yeah, when I was talking to Seymour, he was ex-government. Like Agent X ex-government. I was just trying to talk him into letting me post the truth, you know without getting twenty five to life in a sixty four by sixty four."

"Oh right, so that way, you could get around their rules to put Sam's and Bee's life in danger." Mikaela rolled her head in annoyance.

"Whatever, man. It lasted for like a month anyways!"

"Robowarrior." Binder rolled the disdain off his tongue. The fact that he had been scooping them the entire time because he already knew everything. "What a douche."

"Hey you notice how he just kind of dropped off the face of the planet? What's up with that?"

IIIIIIIIIIII

Suits were everywhere on base. The Autobots were moved into a room that was too claustrophobic for their size. Herded and pushed back into the corner by five people who were tiny and infinitesimal in comparison. A rather ridiculous disposition but one that made Agent Kleiss's ego burst.

"When I return I want these things in crates ready for shipment back to Pluto or wherever the hell they came from." Kleiss snarled, looking over the robots in disdain.

Simmons's eyes bulged upwards looking over the lumbering giants. "So, you just want to pack them all up huh? Do you have any idea the value of knowledge we can get from these things?" He was acting as if the sentient creatures before him were either not sentient, or deaf. Bumblebee snarled and stepped towards him in outrage. "Not you! We don't want something as unruly as you! Though I'd love to take one of the more sophisticated ones, like the magenta or the highlighter, but you wouldn't be worth the effort!" Simmons snapped back with a twitch in his eye. Bumblebee glared at him. Then analyzing his new found understanding of Simmons he dropped the angry stance. He cast a look at Arcee and Ratchet. The two were scientists back in their civilian lives under Optimus. Optimus would be too important to leave behind. Simmons knew this, he also knew that this operation was too risky for humans alone, but his ploy had no effect on Kleiss.

"You see, now this is the part where I get to say 'orders from the president'. And for once, I couldn't agree more."

"He is wrong! This thing is a serious threat to your people, the president should be more concerned with safely disarming this thing over ostracizing us!" Arcee countered.

"Everything that is in that building will be packed up and delivered to our facilities! We will safely dismantle it ourselves, thank you." The bureaucrat hissed back.

"That is not advisable! The radiation levels inside that building are at dangerous levels. If that force field was to be breached, there will be catastrophic damage to your persons!" Ratchet objected. He was very disgruntled getting ordered back to base without extensively securing the area first. He took that far worse than the orders of being removed from the planet.

"You're concern has been noted." Mr. Kleiss replied in a dismissive tone that was teetering towards absolute rage. He didn't want to talk or negotiate with these _things. _The judgment has been finalized.

"We should be examining the device! Between Optimus, Arcee and myself we have much more expertise to handle the situation than any of your scientists!" Ratchet although fuming was still able to sound calm.

"Do not insult our intelligence you gas guzzling parasite!" Kleiss snapped, drawing an irritated twist from the medic. Kleiss's jaw ground into his upper mandible, his eyes steeled over. "A parasite we are finally going to get rid of! Do you understand that?! This is our planet, not yours! You're done meddling in our affairs." He turned to walk away from the inorganic creatures.

"That is preposterous!" Ratchet hissed back at him.

"Kleiss, if I may." Simmons walked in step.

"Simmons. Word of advice for someone who just barely managed to worm his way back onto the pay roll. If you want to keep this job, you'll stick to brown nosing!" He turned to stare Simmons down. Simmons wasn't one to budge so the stare off lingered for almost a minute straight. With a disgruntled puff of air, Simmons broke eye contact if only to glance back at the robots. In hissy triumph, Kleiss turned to walk a few more steps but paused to say one more thing to Simmons. "I know you're used to giving orders, but that's over with. I'm in charge here! Not you. Are we clear?"

Simmon's eyes blackened. "Crystal." Simmons's voice lowered and his chin picked up, defiance welling inside of him. Then as Kleiss stormed away, a sneer rolled over Simmon's face. Defiance that he couldn't act on. Not if he wanted to keep his job.

There was still a chance yet. Optimus was still negotiating with the governments. The world needed the Autobots, after nearly getting destroyed twice it was absolutely necessary! They would understand, they had to! If nothing else, to allow them clemency for just long enough to dismantle dangerous mystery weapon. However there was still the small issue that Galloway was still liaison with the United States government, a key runner in this affair. Getting duped by NEST only grew his bitter disdain against the Autobots.

Now it was a measure of balancing more harm than good. Soldiers of NEST who would betray direct orders in order to side with aliens over their fellow man. The death and destruction that happened world wide because of their existence. The secrecy that was so crudely exposed that left the public entirely on edge with distrust with the government. Optimus had to try and counter all those issues and more. Worst was that most had already made their decision. Humans had a notion that justice was blind, that all sides needed to be presented and bias needed to be thrown out the window to make a valid honest assessment.

Discovering if that was true or not was now a waiting game.

IIIIIIIIIIII

The pewter truck that slowly wheeled up to the hanger betrayed no expression. It was hard pressed to recognize it as anything other than a vehicle. The other Autobots rolled forward weary of the already set disposition. Then Optimus transformed into his more natural state. One where he couldn't hide his emotions despite his best attempts.

Bumblebee's optics widened with a new found sense of fear, guilt, grief and many other emotions that he hadn't felt since he was displaced from Cybertron thousands of years ago.

Tires squealed out of the hanger before anyone could stop him. Reluctantly Optimus sent a command for him to stop. For only the second time in his long duration under his command, Bumblebee disobeyed a direct order. The first time got him captured by Sector Seven. This time, he could only fear what the risks were for this disobedience. Now they had weapons that could hurt and kill him. If that was their intention, what could he do to protect him?

"Bumblebee!" Optimus called out after the Camaro.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO USER 00563*290*032::

**{ Objective: Retrieval of 95686*235*456 }** Optimus's optics dropped, thankful that Bumblebee was covering his aft. The humans would feel compelled to hunt him down for being a renegade. Of course, everyone on hanger who knew about the Autobots and cared, knew the real reason why Bumblebee tore off.

Bumblebee few down the highway. Everything that has been building up inside him left him in a rage. He was overloaded, and he could no longer contain it. Sand and sod flung into the air as his tires scraped deep causing deep ruts as he careened off the road and into the ditch. At full force Bumblebee screamed. Shrilly and shrieking until his voice processor snapped and no sound came out of it at all, yet he still screamed. The only thing for all his efforts was pain. Then, he cut the force and slumped into his chassis as his mind burned with static and anger.

He sat there in burning silence for some time, and he was completely unaware of the blue and red lights that blinked across the landscape.

_Tink. Tink_.

Just before throwing his door into the intruder and sending him flying across the road and into the other side of the ditch with a destroyed arm and a smashed set of ribs and organs, Bumblebee caught his wits about him. The cop could not have suspected that he was on the verge of being turned into hamburger.

_Why was this human bothering him! He was on every news channel, every internet site, every newspaper, even the radio channels. He should know what he's dealing with! An alien robot! Why the hell is this moron wrapping on his window!?_

Through his anger he re-acknowledged his sensors. There were two cars that were in his proximity when he unleashed his rage at his voice box, he apparently blew out their windows and left them stranded there for minutes while they called for someone to deal with it. So they sent a cop?

Rage continued to fester over Bumblebee. He could have smashed this miserable little human! They were kicking him off the planet, if he did hurt the human, would they expect NASA to send punishment after him? What a joke!

There was warbling outside his window. Again he focused his sensors to realize the police officer was trying to communicate with him.

#Get Back! Mother F-# The angry audio-bite didn't even have the bite Bumblebee really felt. It was screamed at max decibels that even his car-natural sound proof interior couldn't quiet his demand to the cop. His engine gassed up in fury and he took off down the ditch around the officer and the cars and ramped back up and down the road. Give him a ticket, he dared him. Give him a ticket for over two hundred miles per hour!

#HEY! You want what wit me?! I'm a tell you one time, don't --- wit me! GET DOWN! Cause I ain't got nothing to lose  
I'm having a bad day, don't make me take it out on you!

You want what wit me?! I'm a tell you one time, don't --- wit me!  
GET DOWN! Cause I ain't got nothing to lose And I'm having a bad day, don't make me take it out on you!#

IIIIIIIIIIII

The decision has been made, the aliens would not be granted asylum. They were to be removed as soon as possible. There was already evidence that one of the vehicles took it harshly. Blasting out windows of two passerbys as he went into the ditch. Then he fled a cop. Full alert. Every human was on the lookout. Anyone who knew better knew where he would be heading. Bumblebee decided to lay low for a while. He had to, he just burst out in a rage. Now he sat closed down in a quiet neighborhood reflecting and reprimanding himself on his own behavior.

This wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to him, so why was he taking it with so much outrage. He nearly lashed out on an innocent because of his outrage. _Completely unacceptable!_ Although it wasn't the first time it's happened with in the last two years. Honestly in the presence of Sam, it seemed to happen more often than permissible. He had been shaken up by it badly enough to confide in Ratchet that he might have a fried circuit. Not that emotions were really in Ratchet's department. He couldn't find anything amiss and was at a loss to explain what it could be. Then Sideswipe snarled at him as he planned to return back to Sam after the cleanup in Egypt. Accusing Bumblebee of all things of getting addicted to the civilian life. He had dedicated his life to being a soldier for so long-

Bumblebee vented out the hot steam within his engine. He calmed down enough. It was time for him to say goodbye and resume his life at Optimus's side as a complete and dedicated soldier.

IIIIIIIIIIII

By the time he got to the University, Sam as well as hundreds of others were already waiting for him. His optics scoured over them carefully, worried about how swiftly his punishment would come into affect, but the people were content to just observe.

What sounded like aluminum cans crushing and heavy metal groaning at his body's weight, Bumblebee shifted trying into his gears while watching Sam below him. Sam realized that he hardly paid attention to those noises anymore. Bumblebee hovered over Sam and Mikaela at his full height. It was so strange to see him like this, out in the open surrounded by so many other people. Pictures were snapping, cameras and phones were recording his every move. They weren't afraid of them! They were fine with him!

"It shouldn't be this way!" Sam called out with a tone of bitterness in his voice. "I should of," he paused cringing and mentally beating himself up, "I just feel like I should have done something sooner. You know?" Bumblebee intently watched him. No radio, no tv or audio clip, just the buckling of metal on metal as Bumblebee took a step towards his charge. Sam shot his eyes away, wringing his tattered sweatshirt in his hands. His first D Day shirt. He felt kind of bad for taking it back from Mikaela but D Day shirt number two went missing in the desert somewhere. Actually Mikaela had insisted on giving it to Bumblebee. Bee would appreciate the ratty garment much more than she would. Who knows, maybe he'd get lucky and find another fragment of the All Spark on it.

Flashes and quiet murmuring had been irrupting around them since he got here. Optics shifted uneasily as he looked at all the people making an exploit of all of this. The back of his sensors burned and grated to sense the police cruisers behind him, watching his every move. They probably wouldn't be here if he hadn't lost his temper. He still burned inside, but his emotions were safely contained. It was their world, it was their right to expel him from it. He forced his soldier face on for this.

Sam's eyes twitched in their socket as he looked his friend over. It really felt like the day they met. A big, gigantic robot looking down at him, making all the noises a two ton robot would. Only this time, the displayed emotion didn't feel fake, in fact, there was no displayed emotion at all. Sam knew that he was hiding them. Sam stepped forward as Bumblebee instinctively knelt down to be addressed by Sam.

"I'll miss you Bee." Sam choked back. The sweater was presented, grasped in both hands then set it down into Bumblebee's one great hand.

"Hey cube boy! Don't get all emotional over us just yet! We'll be back. You'll see." Wheelie snarked, wrapping his way around the small crowd.

Bumblebee reached over with his other massive hand and presented Sam with a gift of his own. Almost ridiculous to see such a massive hand hold something so tiny. Sam's set of keys. Bumblebee felt the same way Wheelie did. They'd be back, just wait and see. At least, he was optimistic enough to believe it. They were delicately drifted into Sam's hands. Sam looked at the key decor that was presented with the two keys. The angry cartoon of a bee with 'bee-och' scrawled underneath. It looked like the air freshener from his first model of car. A reminder of how they met, as if Sam would _ever_ have forgotten that. Sam swallowed, and stepped closer embracing the robot in an awkward hug. Mikaela stepped forward as well to take the other side. At once this action took Bumblebee out of his stoic appearance. His optics shifted to pain and his gears and servos whimpered out in sorrow. The humans stepped back, Bumblebee looked over them carefully, then stood up.

"This isn't right man! We are so screwed! We are so dead! What's going to happen if Megatron comes back here?!" Leo burst out in hysteria behind Sam and Mikaela. Bumblebee looked over him and looked down at Wheelie.

"Wha?" Wheelie squawked looking back at him. "I got no clue what you said just now. I don't read mute! Geez Soundwave has more personality that that! Is this seriously how you communicate with the others? Wow. Sucks to be you!"

Bumblebee rolled his optics and huffed in irritation at Wheelies oh-so-subtle lack of sympathy at his impairment. He straightened and looked Leo, Sam and Mikaela over.

#No matter what!# #It doesn't matter where I go# #I will always be right here for you.# #Cover your back. Boy, I'm ready. Dukes up. Eyes peeled. Ears to the ground.# #I won't let anything happen to you!#

Sam's eyes burned into him. Leo nodded although he didn't look any less pale. Mikaela's arms braced around her. Something terrible could happen in a matter of seconds, and yet they would have to wait hours for backup from the Autobots.

"Yeah well, I'll see you around Warrior Goddess. Don't, don't you be getting inta trouble without me! You got me!?" His demeanor was that of holding back a flood of sloppy tears. "You keep her outta trouble til I get back, won't you Cube boy?" Wheelie turned his back to the humans, already the Camaro was formed waiting for him. The car door popped open for the tiny ex-Decepticon. He grabbed the door open with one hand and looked back at Mikaela, giving the biggest dopiest puppy eye look he could manage. He turned his head and crawled into the car. As soon as the car door closed, "Those stupid humans. Can you believe this shit? Man they almost deserve to go extinct." The growl in his voice had nowhere the sympathy he displayed seconds prior.

IIIIIIIIIIII

_Cookies to the one who can figure out what my favorite childhood movie is. Hint* Bumblebee uses a quote from it! XD _

_And I can't believe I'm doing a plug to a pure rap song. . but . .. song *lol) is _'Get Back' by Ludacris

_I_ _pulled the song originally from Blamformers on Newgrounds (I recommend you don't watch unless you have a strong enough stomach to handle a slug of crap and sick dick jokes. Nothing is really worth watching anyways except for: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=6ozrJuW65xg_

_Anyways I listened to the song on Youtube. The music video and lyrics are actually mildly funny._


	16. Displacement

submitting this early. I'm gone tomorrow and it's finished so why not. Anyways, yay comic!

http://www (dot) crookedgremlins (dot) com/07/19/2009/the-bots-we-never-saw/

Still having troubles with FF removing my line breaks. . .hmm I wonder if just adding line breaks would work . . .

I'll be so ticked if it does.

* * *

**Ch 16**

**Displacement**

* * *

#There is speculation that all of the transforming aliens will be heading back into outer space this time tomorrow. We are still waiting for confor-# _click_

_#_"Well I think it's safe to assume that he was upset!"

"But shouldn't that be something to be worried about? Having giant robots holding grudges against us?"

"Look, nobody was hurt, and he was later seen saying his goodby-# _click_

_#_How are they going to get into space?

"Well, one thought is there is a giant alien space craft coming to pick them up."

"Wait wait wait! They are transforming entities, is it possible that they themselves might in fact _transform_ into space ships."

"What? Like they combine like the droids off of, oh what's that old tv show called?-# _click_

A heavy ill drenched sigh escaped Sam's lungs. He sat there transfixed staring at the television with remote at hand. Passively and quietly Leo and Mikaela were watching him, just in case Sam needed to burst out into a explosive rage or a blubbering pile of snot. Neither was the case, just another flick of the button.

To his side the phone burst to life. It buzzed continuously while being ignored.

"Sam, you're phone's going off." Mikaela dared to interrupt the silence. He barely made the effort to move his eyes to look at it quivering on his desk. The display didn't say Bumblebee or encrypted message. Another flick of a button.

"Look, why don't I uh- I'm gonna go get some pizza." Leo made his way to his feet. "I'll be back, later. Like, hours later. I'll save you guys a slice." By all rights Sam should have went on a rampage against him. He showed no interest in that and he was sure that Sam wasn't interested in talking about - emotional problems with another dude. That's what girlfriends were for. Well, yeah. That's what two year long relationship girlfriends were for. Leo stumbled his way out into the hall with no intentions of going anywhere to eat.

#"No, they absolutely needed to be removed! They were bringing a blood war, _a blood war!_ Our blood! To our planet! It ended up killing over six thousand people world wide and injuring millions more! It's outrageous that we're even debating this!"

"What about what Mr. Witwicky said, that they would be gunning for us no matter what. I mean, what's to stop them from annihilating us if we removed the only barrier that was keeping us safe?"

"What's to say we can trust the kid? I mean how do we know he wasn't some alien experimentation or that he was brainwashed by the-"# click.

The power was turned off via remote. The remote was then chucked across the room. It managed to miss the big screen tv but it did give Sam the satisfaction of whacking the remote so hard that the battery case flung open and the triple A batteries soared across the room.

Without a word, Mikaela reached out for him to embrace him. He had so much rage that he was in a mental lock down right now, but just in case he went down into his inevitable breakdown.

* * *

There wasn't even a chance for sympathy to rumble inside the base. There was no awaiting moment for Lennox's condition to be announced, no formidable goodbyes and so far no clear direction on what was going on with the base at Diego Garcia. Just lots and lots of outrage. Many of the NEST operatives were tripping over each other and lashing out at the bureaucrats who were now running the show. Not that they started it, they were formally poised to take orders like they were supposed to, but it was already known once that they would deceive just to protect their space age buddies. This time that wasn't going to be an option! Amongst the confusion it was announced at once that the team would be divided. One set would be heading straight to a classified location for immediate 'departure' while the other would be sent back to Garcia for debriefing. It didn't take any processing power or brain power of any sort to guess who and how the divide would pan out.

Packed up and shipped out. Despite everything, they still lent themselves to being treated like cargo. Even the endless amount of patience from Optimus Prime seemed to keep his soldiers calm and willing participants to the demeaning events that took place. Even if every atom in their being protested. With that in mind, they weren't entirely able to be pushed over either. Optimus had been careful to cover his tracks in the typical bureaucratic red-tape and paperwork to prevent higher ups from shipping them off into some undisclosed, secluded location to strip them down to their basic beings and pulling them apart for their own devious experimentation. After all, the world wanted a new form of clean energy. The way that blue sparky seemed to have an unlimited supply of it suggested that maybe their sparks would be the next big thing! Alas the resolution was essentially written in stone, there would be no way to harvest any for experimentation and there would be no way to amend the resolution now. The public was starting to warm up to the idea that not every single one of the robots evil. Now it was just a matter of getting rid of them before the idea of having them planet-side was acceptable to a majority. All the damage and destruction they caused in just two years, and they wanted to have permanent alien resident cards? Can you imagine?!

After a long and grueling trip in the confines of a small metal boxes, sunlight finally streamed into the cargo containers. There they were allowed to roll out, and demands were given to GTFO. Get off the planet. Now!

* * *

Everything was tight woven and carefully monitored. Finally everything seemed to be in place. The human soldiers were deeply nestled inside the NEST base, too far away to be a problem. The Autobots agreed to the terms and had already re-established their Comet-alt forms, again under quelled protest. Something about injuries coupled with changing forms was stressful to their systems. The idea was dismissed of course. Nor cared. And now the media was let loose like a pack of hounds to the scent of the news. Stationed all around at a great distance, cameras fixed at the darkening sky for the site that was sure to be a sight. The world that recently recognized the Transformers presence and now, it was ready to see them- leave.

Speculation rose rampant. Everything from what they would see to how long it would take and how quickly spread like fluff over the channels.

Would they go to the moon? How long would it take them to get there? If they left, would the bad ones leave too? Or would the bad ones take advantage of the unprotected world. Questions all around and opinions to cover each and every scenario out there. Mostly to bide their time as the whole world watched. For now, it was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

* * *

The sky darkened, the camera crews slowly became bored and lumbering. Then an announcement and everything suddenly jumped to life again. Looking before the horizon, balls of fire exploded into the skies. Behind them, white puffy streams of cloud slowly projected their way upwards. First was six, then twelve. All lazily floating beyond the technicolor sunset into the vast sea of blue and scintillation. Then they hovered. Minutes it seemed, as they carefully aligned themselves up in a pattern. Then an explosion of white light and the twelve into fireballs disappeared outside of Earth's atmosphere. Faster than any jet or any shuttle launch anyone has ever seen. They waited for hours and the event barely lasted minutes.

They were gone.

Now it was time to hope.

* * *

Here, no breeze existed, no soothing atmosphere, no lush plant life below them to give off the strange but welcoming warmth, just empty sky above and icy dust below.

Out of everything that encompasses the universe, only five percent went into making the curious little planets, stars, nebulas and orbitals like the one they were on now. Within that five percent, the chance for life was was even smaller.

Things are always better with life. It was so rare, and so precious.

Ironhide's circuits flamed with all his frustration. He would have loved to flush fresh air into his system to help ease away the pressure, but here there was nothing. No atmosphere to protect him against the frigid cold that would freeze his circuits instantly. He had to rely on his force fields and they couldn't flow anything calming through his body. He grumbled to himself as he was forced to deal with the uncomfortable rage that swelled into his parts.

Bumblebee sat quietly on a dusty creator. His hands clasped at either side of his head as he streamed internal audio to try and prevent himself from going into a lower mood. He wanted to just wash his audio sensors in screaming music, but no sounds travel inside a vacuum. No sound, no music to listen to, just an all encompassing silence. His weary optics drifted up to catch Optimus staring off at the blue planet.

He was trapped deep down inside his thoughts.

Ever since the war on Cyberton, nothing had ever been easy any more. All of his soldiers had come from broken, disheveled histories. Friends and family were lost and they were forever forced to live in the effects of displacement. He really had hoped that Earth was finally that home everyone so desperately needed to regain. Optimus Prime's processors reflected on how this sudden exile would damage the moral on his team. This planet was to be a sanctuary from all the pain and suffering his charges experienced. Now he worried that his team felt too damaged, too corrupted from the war to return to a peaceful life. He also feared that some would feel bitter resentment for everything they invested only to feel betrayed in the end. He turned and his optics laid across Bumblebee's, now realizing that he was being watched. Prime's optics shifted away.

Despite his intentions, he was always the most protective over Bumblebee. Bumblebee, a trusted member of his team even at the first sparks of war. He worked harder than anyone else to be the best soldier he possibly could be. It was a very admirable trait and yet one that was very troubling. Bumblebee worked so diligently because of his tendency to neglect his own importance. Secretly he was always trying to compete with the others to prove his worth. That realization, that was the realization that prompted such over protective feelings. Optimus misunderstood that fact in the beginning. For when he trusted the important task of distracting the Decepticons to Bumblebee it cost him his ability to speak. But being overly protective of the young soldier made Bumblebee feel even more undermined. In truth he was intelligent, thoroughly disciplined, and skilled. He was also mature beyond his age. Bumblebee was forced into the war at such a young age and he had lost so much. Optimus knew of the issues that had risen between the Witwicky's and Bumblebee. Most were a direct result of Bumblebee fighting between his emotional past and his struggles to rediscover his lost youth. Being in close contact with Sam only amplified his internal conflict. He bonded deeply with Samuel Witwicky and his carefree lifestyle. In turn it made him overprotective and over-reactive over his charge. How things go in full circle.

Optimus blinked out of habit, though there was nothing that needed to be cleared from his optics.

Bumblebee was no longer alone among the youngest generation under his direct command. It grieved him that Bumblebee had little interest with the other two Autobots his age. Then again, they themselves were the ones who put up emotional barriers to the other Autobots. Skids and Mudflap had been cast aside from the chaos of war and had been drifting ever since. For them, they didn't have anyone but each other to rely on. As a result they dawned personalities to make them appear unintelligible and unreliable. They had so much more potential than they were willing to allow themselves. Optimus had hoped that this planet would finally give them the structure they so needed in their lives. To allow their true nature to flourish. When the Decepticons sought the All Spark shard and Megatron, the twins followed Bumblebee because of their weariness of authority. Bumblebee was appealing for two reasons, the first being of the same generation as they and second was because of his more civilian-like lifestyle. Something the other Autobots weren't permitted to having. Skids and Mudflap weren't very interested in living their lives as soldiers yet because of their capabilities, their bravery played a pivotal roll in destroying the Decepticons. Since then he noticed the twins had become more confident in themselves. They began to branch out and take interest in forming bonds with others. They especially enjoyed the company of Simmons, Leo, Sam, Mikaela and Wheelie. Unfortunately the time with them was so short lived.

Ironhide was taking his broken bonds the hardest. At first appearances his persona is gruff and greatly intimidating to both humans and cybertronians alike. When Ironhide first arrived at their camp hidden away from Megatron and the newly formed Decepticons, tensions flared among the small resistance group. His intimidation made it difficult to get past their distrust. Over time, those who saw through his tough exterior discovered that Ironhide was, in fact, quite bondable. It was during that time that Ironhide trained most of the Autobots who fought in this war, including Optimus himself. Ironhide was quick to praise and eager to take the extra time to work with those who needed it. Many benefited by his encouragement and they looked to him for confidence. It wasn't just the Autobots who bonded so deeply with him. The humans became closely attached as well, especially the human major. Will Lennox and his spark mate readily accepted Ironhide into their family. And although Ironhide cared little for the understanding of their biology, he was fascinated with watching Lennox's daughter grow and blossom. He was trusted beyond measures to care for their first born Annabell. Ironhide knew what it was like to be an important friend, but after so many years, he discovered the importance of family. Now he was separated from them.

Optimus's mind drifted to Sideswipe. An Autobot who came to earth in a fit of revenge after loosing his entire band of refugees. Surviving proved to be guilt inducing and he blamed himself for preventing the genocide. At all costs he promised himself retribution. Those actions lead to destruction and terror on the human city. In response the humans declared him a threat. The only determined solution was extermination. It was Ironhide who requested to go against the human wishes in an effort to talk Sideswipe down. He wanted to save him from the human's wrath. As life was already difficult with war, bringing a war to an unsuspecting planet made decisions even more difficult. Optimus risked their position to heed Ironhide's request. It was rare for Ironhide to show that he had favorites among his students but Sideswipe was said to be a mirror to Ironhide's youth. At first it seemed implausible. Sideswipe was rash and arrogant with little concern for others. Traits that were completely opposed to Ironhide's known character. It did not take long to discover that first impressions were mistaken. Sideswipe was typically recluse among the other Autobots but he grew close to Epps and protective to any being weaker than him. Why he avoided his own kind seemed perplexing until Ironhide gave him a deeper enlightenment. Sideswipes behavior was in part a shell to hide a dark secret. Like Skids and Mudflap, Sideswipe was a split spark. He had a twin out there somewhere. If his twin, Sunstreaker, was alive or not could never be established. What was known was that they were torn apart when the war started. Being separated from a fractal spark always results in dire consequences.

Loosing a twin is severe, but it pales in comparison to risking one's own spark to a spark merging to save a dying friend. In Arcee's case, she split her spark in thrice to save both Chromia and Electra One. And that is why Arcee had been suffering so terribly these past two months. In the battle of Egypt she lost one of her sisters. Arcee nearly lost her own life which by default nearly caused Chromia to follow. Sisters. Being incapable of reproducing like the organics on this planet, the other Autobots seemed to find this identity a bit odd. Not that any paid any mind to her decision. Her choice wasn't without deep thought and understanding. Through her research of the human's history she discovered a relation to the feelings of the human females' struggle to no longer be undermined. She felt strongly that she was too weak and small to give adequate protection to her fellow team members against Decepticon assaults. She strived to be stronger, fiercer and quicker and ended up being a very capable leader, but suffered a considerable drawback when her scouting team on Mars was intercepted by Thundercracker and Starscream. Despite everything terrible that had happened, she was still determined to fight for the Autobot cause. She jumped through a space bridge back to Cybertron after Starscream. There she thwarted his attempts at recreating the All Spark for Decepticon use. In the process a great Decepticon city Trypticon was destroyed. Innocent lives were destroyed. Even fellow Autobots were caught up in the chaos. Before finding a way to return back to Mars, Arcee found Electra One and Chromia at the verge of death. She performed the risky merger. And now it was causing her to suffer the most. Time and stability was what she needed to recover. Time they had plenty of, stability was unfortunately harder to come by.

It was recovery that she had to bear alone. Despite Ratchet's excelled abilities, even he couldn't reduce the suffering. Dealing with near constant suffering was something pressed upon him since he joined the Autobot ideal. Not that he was given an option. He worked in the science division when the fraction first broke through the civilians. Ratchet never could stand the thought of war, believing in negotiating and easing issues through discussion or complacent agreements to situations with no palpable discourse. But war was inevitably the only solution. He was formidably more logical than the rest. It sometimes granted him a barrier to realize when a social pragmatic topic should be carefully addressed. Foot in mouth disease was the humans strange way of calling it. That coupled with his own deep frustration with the war and the constant task of piecing together his fellow cybertronians, he gained his infamous bedside manner. Irritation ran deep within his circuits at the task of repairing the warriors over and over again. At times he was forced to become a warrior himself. Despite his allegiance to the Autobot side, his work as a medic catered to all sides. Autobots, civilians and even the occasional Decepticon. If it wasn't for his neutral standing, Jolt would have been unfortunately removed for his appearance of being a Decepticon.

Another civilian who had been cast aside from the chaos of war for so long. Unlike the twins he resided on a desolate planet in solitude. Not by his choice either. So at the chance encounter of witnessing two Decepticon on a trajectory to Earth, he followed them. Per learning the All Spark's destruction he attempted to join the Decepticon forces. Barricade momentarily took him under his wing, but Barricade, is not known to be kind nor patient. Jolt had been lashed out upon and left behind for NEST to finish. In a case of mistaken identity, NEST was prepared to take action against him. However, Ratchet had an uneasy thought that he could be either an Autobot or a civilian and that it was most likely a case of mistaken identity. Under Ratchet's wisdom, a new Autobot emerged. It was fortunate that his time with the humans had been limited and as such had no strong bonds to be broken.

However the situation of calling his fellow Autobots to a new found sanctuary only turned away after such daunting travels again did not sit well, and he was sure it did not sit well with Prowl and Hound either. Despite that, neither complained. Despite getting marooned from Earth not long after arriving, both seemed to be just pleased to witness that the ranks of the Autobots were slowly growing. Both were very dedicated warriors and as such, gave no complaints or showed any irritation.

In the end, Optimus knew that life would go on for them.

* * *

_Blah another short chapter. . Anyways yeah POV from Optimus in this chapter. Or at least, I tried to. I didn't want to get too documentary on this and the more I went over it the more my brain turned to goosh. But basically one thing I want to add cuz it's funny. Watching the old cartoon and the ending is always "YEAH glad that's over with!" And Optimus is all .. "I really wish it was." All Eeyor and shyt. I was watching and my husband called out from somewhere in the hall. "YOU know, he is seriously a major downer!!!" LOL. Yes, yes he is. Cuz he's too busy worried about everyone and their problems. Hope I established that . And Arcee OMG! Don't __even get me started! Okay I got started. In the 'Reign of Starscream' comic, she is a single entity. In the movie, a hive minded threesome. The other two are supposed to be attachment devices, like Optimus's trailer in . . some .. don't remember but anyways components, while Bay says they are individuals as well as a suggested toy line. Well . .Okay that seems semi workable. After all the suggestion was that a spark split could result in twins who could _psychically _communicate, then said spark merge would probably have similar effects. (Don't recall where the merge came from but the idea works for me. Headmaster maybe, other fan fic likely but meh whatever. My story My choice :P) But the thing that really gets me about Arcee .. . I CAN"T GET A NAME!!!!! __Chromia is in stone. K got that. Then I read that it was Electra One, not to be confused with Electra-one or that it was supposed to be Electra 1 again not to be confused with Electra-one. Then I read Moonracer then Flareup. Whatever, I'm going to stick to Electra One. The Tales of the Fallen comic book on Arcee will be coming out in January (Not waiting that long to post this chapter, lucky you.) When I get it, I'll either be fine with it, or absolutely hate it. And I may or may not use that for reference simply because I wasn't given much to go on so now I'm just winging it and probably setting my ideas in stone. Oh . .and yeah I don't know what goes on in the ROTF novel. Um .. .hated the movie and I can't get a grasp that he book is any better. Cept that Mudflap has a lisp. Ooookay? As if he doesn't talk stupid enough the way it is. ARG!!! Again this is another moment in 'my author note is longer than the chapter'._


	17. Biding Time

I can't seem to get Page Breaks to work. *Goes and breaks something!!!!

I'm not dead! I'm happ'ieeee

Xmas and New Years kinda screwed up my weeks. . .THEN I was going to submit earlier this week but I discovered some information about Tales of the Fallen issue 6. It's going to be far too good to pass up. It has to do with the back story of Arcee and her "sisters" as well as the twins. (Optimus's view in chap 16 will need to be edited at some point when I get the book. Just to fill you in from what I discovered, she's got it worse off than I even thought :( ) I've decided I'll continue to post my stories and just rearrange some details to later chapters if needed until I can get my hands on the issue. (Hopefully Diamond Distributing isn't going to muck it up too badly, December's edition still hasn't showed up at my comic store.)

_To note, I'm not going to forget the little detail about 'in space, no one can hear you scream!' Kutos to Alien for that tagline. Rather everyone is speaking through their internal Comms and as an open field to everyone in their party unless suggested otherwise. That's right! Bumblebee gets quotation marks! # inside of quote marks is him still using radio clips. "#blah.#" _

* * *

**Ch 17**

**Biding Time**

What was once a disheveled piece of junk, turned to the glorious home away from home, was now back to being a disheveled piece of junk.

The Decepticons had found the Ark hidden on the dark side of the moon and did a thorough job of remodeling it. They even put in a moon roof.

And moon windows.

And moon floors.

"Well we certainly have our work cut out for us." Ironhide's brushed his hand against the large metal panel. To the slightest pressure it crashed pathetically light to the gravity of the moon. He ignored the fell panel as his optics surveyed the tattered room. The hull was rampaged through, all electrical elements had been shredded, systems gutted, panels bowed in and slumped across the wreckage. It barely even resembled a ship anymore.

Reaching the compartments farther in, Ratchet approached the engine room. "Hmm. Well then, my recommendation is that we get started." Although there wasn't much of anything to really get started on, nevertheless Jolt trotted up to flank the great turbine. His energy sparking eager to be of some use. The others walked cautiously through the halls. Optics wide and sparks wretched slightly. Home away from home looked like Devastator ate it and regurgitated it back out again with better proficiency than swallowing Mudflap.

Their other home away from home was now unprotected. Surveillance for earth was direly needed. Deep in everyone's circuits knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Decepticons used this opportunity to destroy the unprotected humans and get their hands on Sam who may or may not have the All Spark fully downloaded into his brain. Since Soundwave hacked into the satellite, special precautions were set in place to hamper any outside snooping. Now that the Autobots were on the outside, communications were inhibited to them as well. They knew how to get around the defenses but that unfortunately required one to be hovering just over Earth's atmosphere to get a decent triangulation.

Once the ship was thoroughly looked over, all Autobots crowded before Optimus for orders.

"The Ark obviously won't be travel worthy any time soon. What we should focus on is getting our communication systems online." Skills and abilities were considered and tasks divvied out amongst his members. "Arcee take the first watch over Earth. Ratchet, Jolt, see if you can't get one of the Hyperfuel Intake Accelerators powered up and redirect the power to the communication panels. Assemble a team to go with you. The rest of you, go with Prowl to work on the arrays." Then packaged orders of specifics were exchanged. After all the Autobots were given tasks they all left the room, all but Bumblebee. Optimus's looked over him with a flicker of worry in the back of his mind for a brief moment, until Bumblebee crashed his fist into his chest. The loud thud was non-existent, but the impact shook up the inhabitant inside.

"95686*235*456 requires objective." Then an audio file was packaged. "#Seriously!# #He's driving me nuts!#" With that his left chest plate slid open and spat out Wheelie. Wheelie grunted and chattered back his dislike for being treated so rudely. Bumblebee glared down at him with all his sensibility offended. The thought of a Decepticon using him as a host! Optimus quietly chuckled to himself. He wondered how long Bumblebee would put up with the makeshift symbiosis. In honesty, he lasted longer than he expected. "#Parasite!#" Bumblebee countered to Wheelie's squabbles.

"Easy, Bumblebee." Optimus cast out a mild and amused reprimand. In return Bumblebee shifted, crossing his arms and looking simply crossed. Optimus glanced down at Wheelie. Wheelie shuttered at the gaze.

"Uh, hi moon king. Whatta, what can I do ya for?" Then he shuffled up and performed the odd action of dusting off Optimus's foot. Intimidated groveling that he no doubt picked up from taking orders from the Decepticons. Optimus stepped back feeling a little disconcerted.

"Wheelie, salvage what items of importance you can find and bring them to Prowl."

"Uh Prowl? Which one is that?"

"His alt mode was a police cruiser."

"Are you kidding me? I don't want anything to do with him! That whole black, white motif reminds me way too much of Barricade!"

Understandable. "Ratchet then?"

"After I called him dumb on national tv, probably not a good idea. No." Behind Wheelie Bee made an exasperated motion of a sigh.

"He won't harm you." Optimus cautioned.

"Uh huh." Wheelie replied in monotone disbelief. Prime looked over the small transformer. In time he will adjust and learn not to fear the others. Until then, he should keep Wheelie within familiar company.

"Alright then. Bumblebee." Optimus suggested. Behind the small bot, Bumblebee cast Optimus a dirty look.

"Yeah, I could do that." Wheelie replied in satisfaction. Optimus nodded and before leaving the room patted Bumblebee's shoulder with a smile. Another personality to add to his team. Soon he'll be just like family. And like family, you don't get to choose them. Bumblebee motioned for Wheelie to follow as they set off with their tasks.

* * *

"No, Dad! I can't do that!"

"Sam listen. Okay, nobodies going to consider you a failure if you do."

Sam tried to swallow down three pounds of guilt. After all that effort, it bubbled right back up again. Phone to his ear, his own dad was on the other end suggesting he should just give up. After all those years trying to instill in his son the aspiration to never give up, the blatant fly in the face didn't make the way out any easier. In fact it just made Sam feel worse.

"Yeah but I'd be the first Witwicky to flunk out of college." A huff of hysterical not funny laughter. "Dad I didn't even last three months!"

"Yeah well, shit happens sometimes."

Sam stared dumbly at the wall. Then sighed. After a long grueling moment his gaze drifted over to Mikaela's eyes. Sharp and focused, they inspired his confidence to float.

"Look, dad. I'm just not ready to give up on this. I mean the whole reason of going to college was to make something of myself and to get out and be on my own. Look I'm sure this whole thing will blow over soon. I mean, most of the people here have actually been kind of supportive." Sans the broken fingers incident.

"Yeah? And what about Bumblebee?"

A long pause followed by an audible sigh, "yeah, I. I don't know."

"Son, I just think that with everything going on, school might not be the best thing right now."

Another moment of silence. Rather than address the current statement, Sam backed up a step. "Dad I don't get it. You and Mom weren't exactly thrilled with having Bumblebee around, then suddenly you're doing interviews and acting like he's, I donno, you're best friend or something."

"Sam." His father started out stiffly. "There are just, things that your mother and I have come to terms with."

"Terms?" His son balked.

"Terms. We'll discuss it when you get home."

"No Dad. I told you, I'm not coming home. I'm going to stay here and I'm gonna figure this out." The phone was pinched between his shoulder and cheek as he pulled out a piece of something sticky off of his sock. "I'll be alright, okay dad?" Sticky thing dealt with, it ended up on the floor again just tossed a few feet closer to Leo's side of the room.

There was a pause. "Yeah, I know. I just worry, you know especially after you nearly died. Really shook us up."

A pan of adrenaline rushed through Sam's veins. His hand clasped around the phone again before he nearly dropped it. "Who told you I died?" His wavered voice tried to sound serious. Mentally he was cursing out his guardian or maybe Optimus. Bee can't talk.

"Who told us? Sam we saw everything!"

But they were supposed to be far, far away when it happened!

"But-" Sam tried to repeat out loud what his mind just screamed. Was he really that out of it when he first came to? Wait, he remembered Bumblebee's upset expression looking down at him. When he was braced over that straggly looking tree. So he had turned around when he sensed Sam's heart stop. That explains things.

"Yeah, Bumblebee took it really hard. We even had to have an intervention with him." A huff of disbelief. "You would not believe ho-"

"What?" Sam managed out weakly.

"Well, you were pretty busy at the time. Anyway, that's not the point."

His parents had to have an intervention?! Sam was too busy at the time? Busy what!? Telling Mikaela sweet I love yous, busy getting everything back together again for school? So busy that his parents had to be the one to discuss heart to heart matters with his best friend? Not. Him? Subzero water could have froze his body with less proficiency than the current emotions icing through his systems.

"Sam?" Ron called out, suddenly realizing that he had been talking to himself. "Sam?!" Louder, finally catching his son's attention.

"Dad I should go."

"Don't you want to talk to your moth-"

Sam hung up the phone and clasped it between his hands as he slumped onto his chair. His eyes glared at the floorboards of his room.

* * *

"Uh, excuse me, moon king. Uh yeah, hi? Again." Wheelie fidgeted his way up to Optimus. Optimus was overseeing the group reattach a series of communication arrays to the ceiling. At Wheelie's address of 'moon king' the Autobots turned to give him a questionable stare. Wheelie physically flinched when all optics were on him. In more speed than any has ever seen him move before, Wheelie blurred to behind Bumblebee's leg. Before speaking farther, he scrambled up Bee's body and took cover at the shoulder.

"Whachu want?" Skids folded his arms and looked at him.

Safely defended from impending attacks, Wheelie felt more comfortable with sharing his dreadful information. "Well, I was salvaging through the ship, right? Well of course I was salvaging! Cuz you told me salvage and that's what I do. Anyways, I was," His lanky digits clicked together as he fidgeted, "listening through the communication signals, and well," if he told them he was listening to a Decepticon channel would they kill him outright or wait until after? "I think you guys should hear this." Wheelie rushed the last bit of sentence. He packaged up the communications he stumbled upon between Barricade and Soundwave. The clip started with an audio clip that Soundwave had intercepted between Starscream and Megatron and was relaying the conversation..

_"Tell me __Starscream__, what was so interesting on Earth that you felt so compelled to examine?"_

_"Master I just-"_

_"You what?" A low rumbling growl. Megatron's tone shifted, giving off and ire of already knowing something, but wanted to hear the words straight from the mouth of the offender. "I want to know what this has to do with Trypticon?" _

_Starscream let out a yelp of pain. _

_"Lord Megatron, please! Let me exp-" his voice gutted. _

_"You destroyed Trycepticon! I should have your spark for that. Give me one reason why I shouldn't rip it out right now!"_

_"I was just trying to restore the All Spark!" A pause and then a deep grumble followed by Starscream's voice scrambling. "But the Autobots, they attacked __Trypticon __and destroyed both the city and the cube!" Another scream. Then a long pause. Maybe Megatron finally got sick of his second command._

_"Your knowledge is only over-shadowed by your stupidity, Starscream. The All Spark __has already taken a new form. You're pathetic attempts of recreating it are useless!"_

_"But the boy isn't a worthy form! I was simply trying to restore the All Spark to its former glory!"_

_"Fool! The All Spark is simply a vessel."_

_There was a pause as if Starscream thought it over briefly. "Yes, for power, which is precisely why the boy is not a suitable vessel!"_

_"And you think you were worthy enough to restore it!? Tell me Starscream, after you recreated it, did it work?"_

_"No. There were some, unforeseen complications."_

The packaged clip ended with a rumbling growl from Megatron. For a moment there was just silence, then Barricade's voice arose. _"So, you think this has something to do with this unknown Transformer?"__  
__  
__"Affirmative."__  
_  
_"Which would explain Starscream's interest." Barricade growled seemingly to himself. Then back to addressing Soundwave. "Where is Megatron now?"__  
__  
__"Cybertron. He will be arriving shortly with more soldiers that are required for this endeavor. Time is of the essence."__  
__  
_Wheelie's clip ended.

"That's uh, that's all I got. I mean I figured I could have gotten more but I don't think they'd be too happy to know that they were still broadcasting on a signal that I was still picking up." Wheelie iterated.

"So he wasn't a Decepticon." Ironhide mumbled to himself. "I knew it."

"How long ago did you receive this message?" The question prompted Wheelie to duck for cover.

"Uh, just a few minutes ago."

"Sounds like a trap." Ratchet warned after thinking the message over.

"Or an opportunity." Optimus drifted back into his contemplation. "If Megatron is indeed back on Cybertron, we could destroy the bridge and impair his ability to get to Earth quickly."

"We should establish that the communication is legitimate and make sure it's not a trap." Prowl added. It provoked a glance towards Wheelie. Bumblebee felt the small body shiver in fear. The remaining optics shifted back and forth to others in the room. "Who has the capabilities to hack into the Decepticon channels?" Prowl questioned. Among the first four Autobots who resided on Earth, their optics deadened at his question. Having worked closely with Jazz for so long, Prowl understood the response immediately. "I see. So nobody has the skill set to take up the mantle that Jazz left behind. Alright then, Hound go to Mars and scout the location of the bridge."

That nonexistent fret of being replaceable suddenly washed over Bumblebee.

"Wait! Who's to say we should destroy the bridge? Sure it will prevent Megatron from reaching Earth, but that will also prevent us from going back back to Cybertron!" Sideswipe spoke out against the idea which drew a few gazes.

"Why would you want to go there?" Wheelie asked in all seriousness.

"Sheeet. Dat's like Decepticon Central back on crib world!"

"And we can't leave the humans unprotected." Ironhide added. Sideswipe momentarily looked betrayed.

"Yes, but what about our allies on the other side?" Sideswipe hissed back.

"They knew the risks for staying, they already made their choice." Arcee replied calmly. Her thoughts continued and Chromia spoke them.

"After everything is smoothed out on this end, then we can rebuild the bridge."

Mixed feelings followed and silence forced them to contemplation.

"It's not like we have much of a home to go to." Jolt muttered bitterly mostly to himself.

"#Home is where the heart is.#" An audio clip of a warm motherly voice washed from Bumblebee's communication. Jolt and Sideswipe scoffed in their own ways at that statement.

"Hound?" Optimus questioned after a long silent moment. "Are you willing to scout ahead on Mars?"

The fear of being replaced now crashed over Bumblebee like a tsunami. Optimus was asking now!? But-

"Absolutely chief!" Hound purred in enthusiasm.

Optimus nodded. "Then you and Bumblebee scout ahead to see how many Decepticons are guarding the space bridge. Report what you find."

"We should stay outside of their range. I don't like the idea of sending two scouts in alone. It's too risky." Ironhide interrupted, garnering a nod of approval from Ratchet.

"Agreed. Then we need to take control of the bridge immediately. We don't know when Megatron will be arriving, but it's safe to assume that we don't have much time." Optimus held out his hand. "Wheelie, you need to stay with me."

Baffled and weary, he dodged a glance back at Bumblebee and skipped past Optimus's hand and cowered below Mudflap's frame.

Bumblebee glanced back at Hound and then nodded to his leader. "#Let's do this!#"

***

"So you were the first scout for Earth huh?" Hound had a pleasantly upbeat voice. No response from the yellow Autobot outside of a quick nod. "So how much time did you spend on that blue planet by your lonesome anyway?" Eager for chit chat as well. Bumblebee gave him a cursory glance. It was apparent that this wasn't going to be an endeavor bestowed in absolute silence. So in his very limited way, gave his very technical account of time passage spent on Earth. Hound thoughtfully examined the transmission with a puzzled look. Too technical for his tastes but no matter. "Four years? Well, that must have been quite the experience!" Bumblebee didn't elaborate. A long pause to dally up another topic to engage the yellow scout to at least say something! The yellow Autobot certainly wasn't coming across the way Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet explained him to be. "By the way, I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to really get to know each other before. I tell you, those packets they give us really fail in comparison." A nod was all that Hound could hedge out. Hound pursed out a hmph of inquiry. He usually got along really well with everybody. Of course the ten days that Bumblebee was actually in Hound's presence, he scarcely even had the chance to _look_ at the lad.

The two beings trudged on the brick colored sand. Arcee had given them the coordinates of the space bridge's location. For extra precaution, they landed on the far side of Mars and hugged close to the ground in their comet forms. Now that they were a mere five miles away, walking was the best way to limit their detection. Bumblebee's shield dampener widened masking both his spark's signature and his force field's radiation. He even shared his masking with Hound.

"Thanks. So anyway, I'm more of a tracker and judging by the strength of your dampener, I'd say you're pretty good stealth wise. Together we'll make a pretty good team wouldn't you say?" Hound smiled refusing to allow the awkward silence to deter him.

Bumblebee gave him a long and curious study.

"Query." Bumblebee asked feeling a little more optimistic by this new addition to the team.

Hound gave a curious glance back. A twinkle in his optics dimmed for a moment when he now realized that the heavily one sided conversation wasn't a chided attempt to be rude or dismissive. Bumblebee's muteness was perceived to be common knowledge in certain circles. So much so that it was assumed that Hound already knew despite never having met the young hero face to face. "You're the-" he finally realized and caught himself. Trying to get him to talk when he couldn't was surely souring the engagement. "Oh, hey I'm sorry! I remember you now! Heard lots a grand stories about you way back when. You're one brave soul going up against Megatron like that." His chipper tone dropped a note looking over the small mech over. "Though you're not exactly what I was expecting."

Bumblebee twisted back. His servos squawked in defense. Then realized that those noises could be heard easily by the thin atmosphere. Hound laughed. A wide smile formed on his face plates. "You're a youngin is all! After dealing with the those twins, I would have never expected anyone your age to be so-"

Stupid? For letting out a sound that could be heard on the silent planet? Bumblebee's sensors flicked and scanned in alarm. Hound patiently waited for Bumblebee calm down again. His smile still sincere as ever.

"It's okay kid, we're far enough away." Hound reassured. Bumblebee looked at him, and prepped an audio package to give to him, but then something caught his optics. They narrowed on the unnatural shapes on the horizon. Hound mirrored the gaze in curiosity. Before Bee could determine what he was looking at, Hound clasped his shoulder armor. A weary set of optics spoke words of caution to him. However, as Hound approached the mounds he did so without the caution he relayed. Bumblebee stayed back a few yards, ready for anything out of the ordinary.

Getting closer, Bumblebee saw what Hound saw at the distance. A cursory gaze was all that was needed. He turned his head away.

"Objective in effect. Do not compromise." Bumblebee's unfeeling command provoked a look of shock from Hound. Bumblebee then gave Hound a string of numbers of a Decepticon identification tag, "Soundwave." He hoped that would be enough to be understandable. "Do not compromise objective. Send coordinates on later interval." Bumblebee turned his back to the bodies and wandered ahead. Hound stood and gave Bumblebee a very questioning stare.

Bumblebee stopped. Another robotic form just visible from the light wash of red sand and snow was in his path. Exposed from the sand a face gazed out at the stars with a hand propped out of the terrain. Bumblebee stared long and hard at the body. Long enough for Hound to get close enough to get a better understanding of Bumblebee's reaction. Below him in the sand, a lifeless face looked back at them. The face looked remarkably similar.

"Oh, Bumblebee, I'm sorry." Hound apologized quietly. "Was he your twin?"

"Negative." He vented. Ice cold air washed through his systems. The dry, cold dust was terrible. "Objective. Retrieval on later interval." Bumblebee took a step away, whining his servers and popping his fist into his voice processor. His oldest friend laid there dead, and he couldn't even lament.

The rest of the walk was in silence. All for the better, idle chit chat wasn't wise if Soundwave was near. At their departure from Earth, he was no longer tapped into the satellite. The only other place in this galaxy would be near the bridge.

Hound perked, sensing the Decepticons beyond their view. Bumblebee acknowledged his motion and crouched down farther. Both carefully made their approach to the Decepticon base. Looking over a rough embankment they viewed another set of unnatural features that decorated the landscape. It was not what they were expecting either. It looked like someone had already tried to destroy the space bridge. It still remained intact along with a standing Decepticon base, but the ground was tattered with cybertronian remnants. The Decepticon building looked like it was built as an afterthought.

"The wreckage of Trypticon." Hound whispered. Bumblebee nodded looking over the ledge. Scattered in a perfect radius around the bridge was a chaotic mess of partial buildings and scraps of metal. What was most surprising was that cybertronian corpses seemed sparce, if at all existent. Decepticons must have done a half afted job of cleanup which still left the two scouts plenty of cover. They slithered closer taking refuge behind an stripped piece of metal. Soundwave stood at the ready of the control panel for the bridge. Also present was Thrust and Fearswoop. Hound carefully looked the area over, sniffing out the scents of the sparks present.

"Optimus, it looks like the little guy was right. Megatron and Starscream are nowhere in sight. I'm sending the data packet right now!" Although whispering in Autobot communication channels only, at the distance, Soundwave stirred.

Then his blazing hot visor shot towards their direction.

"Syntax error. Engage enemy immediately." Bumblebee reeled back when the red glow set its focus on them.

"Autobots." Shockwave's low, calm, gravely voice alerted. Fearswoop and Thrust in turn lit up eager for some action. Per Soundwave's orders they ran forward while unleashing their artillery at the two Autobots. The sky around them exploded with streams of plasma.

"Prime, no good! Soundwave heard us!" Hound screeched internally. Both ducked behind a uprooted piece of wreckage for measly protection.

Outside of the Decepticon camp more bodies poured out. Mindless Sentinels whose only purpose was to outnumber and destroy.

Bumblebee reached over the wreckage and blasted his cannon in return. Plasma from enemy fire hit too close for comfort. He yelped as his head had been grazed. At the other corner Hound was carefully taking aim with his weapons as well. The Decepticons had a small army. Bumblebee and Hound's odds didn't look very good. At Hound's shoulder was his powerful last resort weapon. However, with Soundwave, Thrust, Fearswoop and a helping dose of drones ready to descend upon the two hapless Autobots that last minute weapon didn't seem like such a bad idea. The large missile armed and ready, Hound jumped out from his barrier and launched the missile directly at them. Just as Hound dodged under a new foxhole, the missile impacted, blaring out a wave of light and energy. When the worst washed over the planet's surface, Bee rose and to take potshots with his cannon against any enemy he could spot.

A spray of explosions pelted Bumblebee's back. Pain seared upwards, as he turned barely quick enough to avoid the full flurry. Dirge hovered above him fully befitting from the surprise attack. Bumblebee skipped and rolled quickly but ended up finding himself in the cross fire. Hound stepped out to offer cover while Bumblebee slipped to his location for some safety. Now they were flanked.

"We're in big, big trouble!" Hound continued his fire on Dirge.

"#You can say that again!#" Bumblebee focused his fire on Dirge as well, mainly because that was the only target he could see. The fire streaming in from behind edged closer, forcing them back farther into their small shelter. It meant that the Decepticons and drones were making their approach and going to effectively have the two Autobots cornered.

Cannon fire and shells exploded around their pathetic little shelter. They were so slagged!

Just as they were counting down the nanoseconds to their destruction, the planet's heavens opened and a rain of hot molten energy rained down defusing the Decepticons. Fire sprayed apart the remaining drones as they were too mind-deprived to dodge or flee. Thrust, Fearswoop and Dirge spun into evasive maneuvers. Three jets verses ten comet forms, the jets seemingly had the advantage. They had the maneuverability and speed that the Autobots simply did not.

"Autobots get to the bridge!" Optimus commanded as he barreled towards any target he could get into his line of sight. Fearswoop gracefully slipped beyond Prime's falling form. Prowl raced downwards to the surface. His weapons also targeted onto Fearswoop. Arcee and Chromia lined up with Thrust. Without contest, the two Decepticons slipped by seamlessly. Undeterred, the Autbots continued to free fall. Above them Jolt, Ratchet and Ironhide focused on providing cover from overhead.

Fire lit up the planet as weapons fired from all directions. Although the three alien jets could easily outmaneuver, the sheer number of Autobots they were up against were evening up the odds.

Despite the chaotic spray of plasma and metal striking all around him, Soundwave nervelessly stood at the bridge's control panel. The portal before him blipped and a pool of black shadowy material waved and glistened. "Megatron, make haste." He then turned to the Decepticons under his command. "Distract the Autobots."

Prowl, Optimus and Arcee crashed first into the martian dirt first. Streaks of impact shuttered the ground beneath them. Soundwave glanced over at them, slowly and steadfast.

"Ratbat, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Squawktalk." From within his form four super charged missiles sprang out and sliced through the space. Before diving into the Autobots, they transformed and slipped by gracefully by but not without tagging the three with hard hitting rounds. Small, quick and deadly they proved to be more difficult than the larger Decepticons. Those, you could hit. Optimus shot his rifle, the bolts floated by harmlessly. Prowl's luck wasn't much better. After a heavy hail of fire, Arcee was able to cripple Squawktalk.

With their improved odds, Hound and Bumblebee broke away from their cover to aid in taking out the fliers. Bumblebee manually shifted his firing arm into automatic fire. Spray was more effective against their maneuverability but it did less damage.

Above them Chromia pulled back, redirecting her motion upwards. Defying gravity she transformed and unleashed her rapid firing cannon into Fearswoop.

"Focus fire!" She yelled. Arcee had already complied knowing Chromia's command before words were spoken. The two sisters, Optimus and Prowl worked from below while Ironhide lined up with him from above. Ratchet descended and transformed, plowing into Fearswoop with his machine gun.

One Decepticon down.

Jolt then headed towards the planet's surface. Dirge and Thrust flanked him for a moment, simply crossing airspace. Jolt unleashed a wave of electricity to knock them down a peg. Of course all he managed to do was to tick them off. He pulsed more energy into his descent as the two Decepticons reigned after him.

Hound leapt forward and laced his automatic weapon into Thrust. It gained the attention of both. Two against one, Hound was pelted, the bullets stirred and billowed the dirt at his feet. Bumblebee glanced back to see Hound in trouble. He turned with his fire attuned to Dirge. Metal and fireballs exploded around him causing him to descend, he folded back into a jet and shot upwards to give him range. Thrust rolled while continuing to chaotically spray any Autobot below. Bumblebee turned and made a mad dash for cover. Thrust growled out as a wash of metal laced into his back. His voice lost within the thin atmosphere. Flanked by Hound and shot in the back by the twins, Thrust crumbled. Dirge meanwhile barrel rolled out of reach, only to be intercepted by Sideswipe.

Sideswipe folded out of his comet form, slashed down heavily splitting Dirge's wing off and rolled back up to impact the Mars landscape. Unable to fly without his wing, Dirge followed. Faced off with the angry martial artist, the Decepticon's fear washed over him, causing him to throw an inept swing as Sideswipe skated towards him, both blades at hand, ready to finish the job.

Meanwhile Thrust pummeled onto the ground. Above him the twins cheered in triumph.

"Oh ye'ah, Baby! Cuz I'm da bawse." Skids gloated.

"No ye ain't. That wasn't chu!" Mudflap begged to differ.

"Says yew! You's couldn't hit da damn broad side uh de universe!"

Their banter ended abruptly as slices of energy nearly tore their comet forms apart. Both yelped in unison. Two small Decepticons swiftly rolled their way as they took evasive actions away from the Autobots on the ground. Mudflap pulled out into his robotic form to swing wildly at Ratbat as he careened by. He failed miserably and barely rolled up into his comet alt in time to bare impact on the martian dirt. He thudded, transformed and had managed to have his head cracked into the dirt. His body crumbled to the ground a moment later.

"Ah'ight, I take it back. You hit Mars wi'cho ugly self!"

Jolt then crashed his comet form into the planet. Optimus finished off Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. He turned back to see that through the chaos, Soundwave barely nudged from in front of the panel.

"The bridge!" Optimus yelled out. Getting thoroughly distracted, the bridge was primed and ready for transport and something was waiting to come through. Now that the enemy had been reduced enough to focus on the bridge, they all rushed forward to force Soundwave away from his station. Now Soundwave finally reacted to the fire that erupted around him. Granted most of the shots were wide to avoid hitting the control panel, and then-

Jolt's whips shot out and grappled the panel. He pulled them taunt and then propelled himself towards the panel to get there quickly. The sparks of energy that stretched out beyond his control inadvertently made the panel unusable.

"It's jammed!" Jolt yells out, both internally and externally. Frantically trying to close the bridge down to no avail his optics darted up to see Soundwave band of red staring at him. Content that the operation couldn't be reversed, he transformed into his jet and launched himself away from danger.

"He's coming through! Stop the bridge!"

"I can't!" Jolt frantically screeched as he continued to try and get the panel to respond.

"You idiot!" Sideswipe growled. He rolled up to look the control panel over.

"We don't have time for this!" Arcee hissed. "Concentrate fire on the bridge!" She rolled back and started unleashing everything she had into the bridge. Sideswipe turned and looked at the looming energy that hovered over them. He wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he thought he heard Megatron's growl from the other side. He could smell home's atmosphere from the portal. He forced the distraction back and began firing upon the bridge as well. As well as everyone else who was close enough.

It still didn't seem good enough. Now was the time Hound needed that last resort missile.

High above Ironhide just broke through the thin atmosphere. The gravity though lighter had less wind resistance to slow him down. He engaged his thrusters to max to propel him faster. Nobody below had enough firepower to take out the portal in time. And it was opening up, Megatron was coming through!

Something drastic needed to be done. He was going to use his own body as a force to try and topple the arm of the bridge.

Moments to impact, he just hoped it would be enough.

* * *

_Whew, Long Chapter!! And I like the idea that the entire Autobot bunch isn't a closed nit family. That sometimes, they don't actually know everybody. It also works better with the whole, 'you lose some, you gain some.' Besides, Hound is yet to be mentioned in the movieverse or any movieverse comic. Meaning that so far, he's been neglected. _

_Browsing through Deviant art, I decided that I like this version of Hound_

_http://stripedwine (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Bayform-Hound-WIP-4-97368900_

_So that way I can get out of trying to draw one up myself. Although I still imagine him with his shoulder cannon._


	18. Longings

OMG CHECK IT OUT!!! I FINALLY GOT THOSE STUPID PAGE BREAKS TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!

* * *

Yeah, I totally procrastinated :\ Ah missed Friday.

Then I wrote this while I procrastinated writing up my speech for the speech club. Yeah, I'm still gonna quit sometime. .

sometime. . .

In other news, I finally got Tales of the Fallen # 5 & 6. Whoot! Chapter 16 will be modified and updated shortly, but all I really did was to add a sentence. Judging Arcee's character by the Movie-verse I don't think it would be too far out of her range to hide something about her. So no real worries about a massive change cuz there wasn't one. Just that. . it's suspected she's hiding something. :P Those workings will show up in later chapters.

_Just a reminder_

_:: :: - text messaging  
#encrypted message - Bumblebee sending a protected text message  
Message from Blah - Instant Messaging_

_[][][][] - means invalid characters (I didn't state this before but I probably should. Since I get little boxes whenever I try reading Chinese I imagine the same would happen for alien characters getting crammed into a computer)_

_

* * *

  
_

**Ch 18**

**Longings**

As Agent Kleiss's had stated, the device was moved to a secret and secure location. Most of it anyways. There were still a few pieces left behind, but their main concern was safely dismantling what they had. As the hard part of moving it was done, the rest should have been a breeze. It was just a matter of finding the power source and shutting it off. At least that's what he demanded for.

The way Simmons saw it, things didn't quite work that way! The power source wasn't so easy to determine. Plus it was still radioactive. This thing could be a nuclear battery for all he knew. Worse, because it just _had_ to happened on his watch, though with the amount of his overtime, how could it _not_ fall under his watch, three people mysteriously died upon examining it. No explanation, no radiation contamination, no deadly gas, just poof. Gone! Three people dropped like flies. Rather than go kiss ass to keep his job, he dove into an investigation. Of course he'll get the brunt of the blame even though he warned that Autobots should be the ones figuring this thing out! Everyone's incompetent and they blame it on the competent ones!

Now he was waiting for the Autopsy reports. So far the results were inconclusive. Over and over again he played the video and audio reports trying to find something of explanation. Three people standing there and then, dead! Simmons tried to rub the exhaustion from his face. It didn't work. A glance at his watch told him that he wasn't just putting in overtime, rather he was nearly putting in a full forty eight hour shift, for the third day in a row.

Wait.

He tried to shake the exhaustion from his mind. Maybe it was time to take a break.

* * *

The phone buzzed on the desk.

A moment to numbly grasp at his phone. Probably his dad calling him again. Probably the mass horde of strange numbers that belonged to various news companies seemed more likely. But he stopped short, it wasn't a phone call but a text message. A protected text message.

"Bumblebee?" Sam shrieked and flung himself at his phone. "Hey, how are you?"

#encrypted message# Bored.

Just, bored? Out of everything that has happened, BORED?

#encrypted message# I hate space. It's too quiet out here.

#encrypted message# I'm in Earth's orbit right now, otherwise I can't get a decent amount of signal for anything.

#encrypted message# I probably shouldn't stay and chat for too long otherwise Soundwave will figure out my location.

Sam gulped. So Bumblebee was taking a huge risk to try and contact him.

#encrypted message# So hows school?

Then Sam flushed with irritation. Bee was taking a huge risk to contact him to ask about chit chat stuff?!

"Bee! What are you doing? Don't risk your life just to ask me how school is!"

#encrypted message# eh. He can't do much right now anyways. Though I prefer that he didn't get a solid pin on me.

"What'ya mean?"

The phone froze.

After an eternity it thawed.

#encrypted message# I hate your phone. Catch you on IM? Anyways I'm alone right now, and if he figures that out, it might lead to an issue. That's all.

#encrypted message# Oh, but don't type, I want to make sure I can keep things under wrap.

Message from Bumblebee:: Just wanted to see how you were handling things.

Sam laughed out humorlessly. "Yeah well, school sucks. I don't know, one of these days I might get brave enough to actually go back to my classes. Everyone stares at me as if I've grown a second head, but hey at least I get to be here. Counts for something right?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Yeah I guess. Hear anything about if we're able to come back or not?

A defeated sigh. "No. Not yet. They're still debating."

Message from Bumblebee:: Hm. So what else is new?

There was a pause from Sam.

"Bee, if we're just going to just talk," Sam paused again, reworking his thoughts to words. "I'd like to talk to you about what you said to my parents."

Message from Bumblebee:: I said something to them? I don't have the voice to really say anything to anyone.

"You know what I mean."

Message from Bumblebee:: Honestly, no. I'm not sure what you mean.

"Bee, my dad told me that they had an intervention with you because you were acting so off base after Egypt."

Message from Bumblebee:: Hm.

Message from Bumblebee:: I see.

Message from Bumblebee:: Yes, it should have been something I discussed with Optimus and not your parents. I hope they don't have any hard feelings against me for that.

Sam's tone was drenched in irritation at such a comment. "No, Bee they don't have any hard feelings against you. "Now for what really bothered Sam," it's just that I should have been the one to talk to you, not them. I mean, I saw that you were kind of, clingy and I was kind of avoiding you. I really should have talked to you alone about everything."

Message from Bumblebee:: Hold no regrets Sam. You have other things to worry about right now.

Sam couldn't help but growl. "Bee'eeee!"

Message from Bumblebee:: What?

Teeth clamped tight, lips furrowed, advanced alien robot being naive as usual.

"Stop that! You _know_ what." How about a fifteenth foot tall robot being super clingy because who knows how many of his friends already died on him. And now _again_ acts like it's no big deal.

Then when Sam wanted the advanced alien robot to respond with something to suggest that the alien suffered from the whoosh factor yet again, he got something else. Dreadful, silence. Yeah, he knew what.

"Come on Bee, I thought we agreed to talk about things that are bothering you. It's not always about me you know." More silence. "Bee, you still there?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Yes.

Frustrated air puffed out of Sam's nose as he slumped into his chair.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Is this disturbing? Like girlfriend avoiding you disturbing? Because, alien robot who is using the pronoun Male, makes it feel pretty disturbing. Besides that, he already _has_ a girlfriend. A quick scan around the room to make sure she didn't sneak in the room somehow without his knowledge. No need to have her hear this. Okay, coast clear. Wait.

Did he really just think ab- Never mind.

Message from Bumblebee:: I did not intend for this to go sour so quickly, Sam.

Before Sam could huff a response,

Message from Bumblebee:: Please understand. I went through thousands of years without having the ability to talk.

Message from Bumblebee:: Even before that, I was never one to express my feelings on a whim.

Message from Bumblebee:: When you spend as long as I have with dealing with your emotions alone, it's very difficult to just pour them out suddenly onto other people.

Message from Bumblebee:: When we returned from Egypt you weren't the only one avoiding people.

Message from Bumblebee:: It was wrong of me to do so. Optimus would have helped me sort out my issues, but I didn't want to trouble him while he was resting. Everyone else was either too injured or outside of my range of trust.

Message from Bumblebee:: It didn't even occur to me to go to you because you had your own issues to sort out. They wanted to take you away, have you change your name, to possibly remove Mikaela from your life, to take away your chance for independence, you simply did not need my stress laboring you down on top of that.

Message from Bumblebee:: The discussion with your parents was an accident. After I failed to protect you, I couldn't stand to be in their presence. The amount of time I spent at their residence, I did not think we formed anything beyond an acquaintance. I did not expect for them to notice a change in my behavior.

Message from Bumblebee:: I was mistaken. They cornered me in a garage and we had a session similar to our rules and regulation meetings. Only that time, they seemed to be more sympathetic to my perspective.

Message from Bumblebee:: I don't know what the change was. I had imagined that they would have been more angry with me, not less.

Message from Bumblebee:: I still suffer from confusion trying to understand your kind.

More stifling silence outside of Sam's breathing. Bee couldn't pick up what Sam was thinking on just the rhythm of his breathing alone.

Message from Bumblebee:: Sam? Do you have a response?

Sam finally caught up with reading. "You ever think the reason why you suffer from so much confusion is because you look into things too much?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Possibly. Though there is still a lot I have yet to learn.

"Okay, how about you start by learning how to talk to people again. You know, when things are bothering you? I mean, you have no idea how much it drove me nuts when you lost your voice again, and you were just like, eh whatever about it. Because, you were so not eh whatever about it!"

Message from Bumblebee:: Hm. I have noticed at that time you did seem to be more

Message from Bumblebee:: distant.

"Yeah."

Awkward pause.

Message from Bumblebee:: So . . .

"You are such a pain in the ass you know that?"

Message from Bumblebee:: You have no idea how mutual that feeling is.

Message from Bumblebee:: Not literally of course. Considering I don' t have one.

Message from Bumblebee:: Well I guess in an attempt to communicate more:

Message from Bumblebee:: Yes, it bothered me quite a bit when I lost my voice again. I have been very frustrated even now. Some of the newer members have yet to learn my methods of communication. It will be resolved in time I'm sure.

"Wow, opening up was so melodramatic."

Message from Bumblebee:: It's the attempt that counts right?

Message from Bumblebee:: Actually, there is something bothering me quite a bit right now.

"Getting kicked off the planet?"

Message from Bumblebee:: Besides that

Message from Bumblebee:: You know how a few months back, I seemed

Message from Bumblebee:: distracted, I guess would be the best word to use.

"You mean when you were running red lights and being excessively hard to deal with?"

Another long stem of silence.

"Bee I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that."

Message from Bumblebee:: No. I understand. Yes at that time. I think you picked up something was wrong with me, but I never really told you what.

"It was because you went mute again right? I mean, it. Yeah, it was probably at the time when I started pushing you away huh? Bee I was just so-"

Message from Bumblebee:: No. That was at the time Arcee joined our team. On Cybertron we did a lot of missions together. I was quite excited to see her again when I rejoined Optimus's team.

Message from Bumblebee:: For background purposes, before I came to Earth she was sent out to another location to search for the AllSpark. Just prior to Mission City we called for emergency backup when we realized that we were over our heads. We soon learned that the other parties were still beyond Earth's location to help. We got lucky, Megatron acted impulsively which gave us the upper hand.

Message from Bumblebee:: Anyway, after the battle, Arcee's team arrived on Earth's moon to watch over Decepticon activity. After hearing our victory her team attacked the Decepticon base on Mars. They would have been successful if Starscream hadn't intervened. That slagging scrapheap just had to survive! Between him and Thundercracker they killed everybody!

Message from Bumblebee:: My best friend was in Arcee's team! [][][][][][][][]!!!!! I found his body. Along with all the other bodies of our comrades. And they did something to Arcee! I know they did! Sisters!? Give me a break! That wasn't an emergency spark conjoint! They don't even have their own personalities! They're not components either, or drones! I don't know what they are! And don't even get me started on Arcee. How dare she suffer this by herself and completely blow us off! She should know by now that she doesn't need to keep secrets from us!

Message from Bumblebee:: And as if that hadn't been bad enough, Optimus died! If I hadn't turned back to regroup with the others I could have been there to help him! I could have been the factor that would have bought us enough time for the others to catch up to stop Megatron then and there! If we would have stopped him there! Your name would have never been plastered all over the world! And then struggling with what to do next, we got stuck with Simmons. I can't even stand the smell of him. And that jerk had the audacity to suggest that _we_ were using Earth as a playground. He said that when he stole Frenzies head. And judging by the radioactivity that was emanating out of his mother's basement, my guess was he was experimenting on it! He still thinks we are nothing but unfeeling monsters, I know it! He has yet to apologize to you, Mikaela and myself for what he's done to us. Unbelievable! And then there was Jetfire. Nothing he said made any sense. I have no idea how you were following any of it. That our earliest ancestors were visiting Earth a millennium ago. Was he thinking that meant a million? A thousand years ago would make me as old as they are! If he was thinking a million then the tilt on Earth's axis would have been completely off. Three kings? Daggers tip? A million years ago and the alignment of the constellation and the Matrix would have been meaningless. A thousand years ago and humans would have written down that we exist. Besides the pyramids would have already been constructed. And we don't use vague riddles to name stars. We don't use constellations! I highly doubt the Primes did. I don't know how you did it, but you somehow knew what he was talking about!

Message from Bumblebee:: Then I saw you lying there while they tried to stabilize your heart. Then it stopped. I was supposed to protect you and I failed. I failed to protect you when that human broke your hand.

Message from Bumblebee:: I'm sorry that I was so clingy. A lot has been going on and

Message from Bumblebee:: These past two years have been strange for me. The thousands of years I spent fighting in a war, I knew my place. Now it just seems like every things falling apart.

Message from Bumblebee:: [][][][][][] [][][][] Dammit!!

Message from Bumblebee:: I completely lost focus, now Soundwave knows exactly where I am.

Sam was slowly working through Bumblebee's massive attack of block text. First a rush of horror realizing that Bee lost friends even while things were going well on Earth. After the AllSpark battle Sam was still getting used to having an excited, chatty alien robot in his company. The first impression he got was that Jazz's death didn't bother him that much. His first impression was way off, and it was the start of realizing just how badly the scout hid his feelings. Through subtle poking and proding he came to realize that Jazz was like an older brother to Bumblebee. So first he was flushed with heartache for Bee, which quickly shifted to irritation. His first comment he thought he'd bring up was, 'Gee, Arcee's been hiding things from you and that makes you mad?' Again, naive robot! One who looks so deep into things sometimes he fails to see the blatantly obvious! That pretense dropped away very quickly.

"Bee?" Sam mumbled to himself. More of a consolation than anything. Then his heart wrenched after he read farther. Bumblebee hadn't said anything since he made the realization that Soundwave had him in his sights. "Bumblebee! No no no, please answer me! Let me know your okay?"

#encrypted message_# _Yes, I'm okay Sam. I don't think he's going to do anything right now. He doesn't have his legion of drones to send at me and he doesn't seem to be making an action himself.

#encrypted message_# _I better not let myself become distracted like that again though.

"Okay." Sam muttered weakly, trying to shake off the sheer adrenaline flood that washed over his body. Tense silence filled the room. Sam even went to rereading Bumblebee's outpouring.

Message from Bumblebee:: Anyways to deter from what a sap I am, to buy you some time and to make our time up here useful, we attacked and destroyed the Decepticon space bridge. It won't stop them forever, but at least they can't keep popping out army's into your galaxy for a little while.

"You're not a sap, Bee." A long pause on Sam's side. "Space bridge? So, you could have used it to go home." A emotion drenched sigh. "Bee I'm really sorry for everything that's happened to you. If they knew nobody in their right mind would kick you off the planet."

Message from Bumblebee:: A lot of humans don't understand. I understand that, but those who do are our families now. We'll do anything to protect them. Besides, there isn't anything left on Cybertron and even if there was, there won't be when Megatron discovers he can't get back through.

Message from Bumblebee:: Anyway, why don't you talk for a bit. I've already said enough for one day I think.

"Yeah. Um. Well I guess if it makes you feel any better. Jetfire was senile. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about either. He could just read the symbols in my head. Actually, the best that I can describe it is, I think the All Spark was using my knowledge to find the Matrix. You know cuz, I just like read through an entire astronomy book. If it put it in terms that you could understand, or him. Expecially him, then I wouldn't understand it. And, I guess I'm the one with the AllSpark crammed into my head.

Message from Bumblebee:: So the AllSpark talks to you?

"Yeah, I guess."

Message from Bumblebee:: Yeah? And what does it say to you? :3

"Actually, math equations. I think."

Message from Bumblebee:: What?  
Message from Bumblebee:: That was supposed to be a joke! I thought you said the symbols went away!

Oh, a joke back duh.

"They came back. Yeah, it was actually during your last fight, before you killed that big Decepticon."

Message from Bumblebee:: [][][][][] Okay hold on!

"00563*290*032. Conformation complete of All Spark radiation. Respond."

Optimus please say we can go home! I hate it up here!


	19. Bad News, Better News

_yah, I took a week off. Sorry for anyone patiently awaiting. Anyways, I've been slightly derailed during the month period while I waited for school to start up. All that idle time drove me to a mental shutdown. Now that I have rebooted, I am going to work on Spark of Hope again. Yay! I'm so excited about it! So keep an eye out for that. :)_

* * *

**Ch 19**

**  
****Bad News****  
**  
"00563*290*032. Conformation complete of AllSpark radiation. Respond." Bumblebee sent out a message to Optimus. Contact with the Autobots was supposed to be limited at this time, but this was urgent. Even Sam had sensed the AllSpark radiation, and it was still affecting him. That had to be important for them to know.

Speaking of, ever since this mission started he was now officially consumed by fret; not before like all the others were. Not so much because he was injured. Not so much because Soundwave could easily overpower him, but because he just couldn't put Sam's well being on the back burner. Expecially when Sam had been acting so damn _strange _lately. He didn't lie, humans were confusing to him. Sam suddenly wanted to talk about things that Bumblebee thought were taboo for males to talk about. Not taboo, but things that are supposed to be implied but not directly expressed. Like feelings. And not want, but demand! As if Sam hadn't become perplexing enough, that device was still out there somewhere and it was affecting him.

Regarding Soundwave and the risk he posed, Soundwave was digging into his communication channels trying to find something juicy. For a while, it was a sort of game to see how fast Bumblebee could outpace Soundwave. But Bumblebee couldn't just hover over Earth without checking up on his friend. Was it a mistake? Possibly. The emotional demand that Sam asked for caused Bee to stumble. And stumble he did. His befuddle allowed Soundwave to catch up. There wasn't much the Decepticon hadn't already known. Bumblebee was a sap. Sam had the AllSpark downloaded in his head. They destroyed the space bridge. All common knowledge by now. Still, he hated the idea that Soundwave got a hold of his personal chat. He could live with that. It was the risk he took when he came here. What he hated most, was being up here.

Optimus please say we can go home! I hate it up here! Honestly he did. He was so sick of the silence and the fact that the blue planet was the only colorful thing to look at out here.

"Bumblebee, hold your position." Optimus's voice stung back after what seemed like a daunting eternity.

Bumblebee shifted all of his focus back onto Soundwave. Sam begun speaking once again, and it took a huge amount of effort to listen to his friend.

"Yeah, I don't know, I mostly notice them in my sleep. I'm sure everything will, I donno." Sam blustered on the other end of the cellphone communications. "It's not like it was as constant as before. You know?"

_No, I don't know._ Now to get Sam derailed from that topic. Just in case the Decepticon managed to get into his audio channels as well.

Message from Bumblebee:: Anyways Sam, thanks for letting me vent out on you.

Message from Bumblebee:: It did help.

"Yeah. No problem. Say Bee-"

"Sam!" Leo's voice unexpectedly burst from Sam's phone as well as a slam of wood against a wall. "Dude, you gotta get out of here!" There was a clutter of noise coming through the phone. Movement, but nothing Bumblebee could discern. "I just got a call from Simmons! Social Service, or Secret Service, I donno, but somebody is heading over here, right now!"

_What?!_

"What?" Sam's voice sputtered out. "Why would they come now?"

"I do'no man, but you should get out of here! Simmons said he was gonna try and intervene."

Bumblebee searched through Leo's phone for Simmons's number. It was protected, untraceable. Not just 'no number' protected either but it had defenses against Transformer snooping as well.

"Bee I have to go!" At that Bumblebee heard a distinct thump as the phone hit hard on the computer desk. As far as he could formulate, the following noises were of Sam gathering his items. The phone scratched against the surface of the desk as it was picked up again.

Damnit! Not now, this can't be happening now!

Message from Bumblebee:: SAM!?

He got an irritating message that Sam was offline.

#Encrypted Message# Sam what's going on!?

No response. Then Soundwave made a motion. Re-orientating himself into a better position as he saw the Autobot suddenly drop his guard against him. As the Decepticon moved, Bumblebee doggedly trained his focus back on the Decepticon. He transformed into his bipedal form and pulled his arm cannon upwards and lined Soundwave into his sites. A long pause of tense energy passed between them.

Was this the Decepticon's doing? Did he hack into his audio channels? His encrypted!? Or was he simply acting in response to Bumblebee's sudden disarray?

From Sam's phone there was a scrambling of noise. An unfamiliar voice called out from a short distance. "Oh shit! Go down that way!"

The equivalent to frazzled nerves scorched throughout Bumblebee's circuits. In affright Bumblebee's attention crossed over to Sam, then back to Soundwave, then he faltered, he glanced towards Optimus's location before training back on Soundwave. Soundwave regarded the yellow scout carefully.

An eternity passed before anything more could be discerned from Sam's side.

"Hold it, son. Going some where?" The unrecognizable authoritative voice sounded irritated.

Bumblebee couldn't break his cover, but he didn't know what to do with this new situation that was unfolding. If Sam was taken by Secret Service he could be safe, but who knows if Bumblebee would ever find him again! However if they didn't take him, Soundwave could have already sent for Barricade!

"Uh, I um. I was, on my way to- take a shower!" Sam replied in a startled voice, clearly not expecting to get caught.

"With you're laptop?"

"Well, yeah. I'm a nerd. You know, I can't go anywhere without it."

"Ping to 00563*290*032." Bumblebee stressed. Optimus!

#encrypted message# Sam! Tell me what's going on!

"Who's texting you? That you're alien friend?" The man's tone went from irritated to demanding. "Let's go!"

Then, the phone went dead.

There was more than one voice of humans taking Sam, so he knew it wasn't Barricade. Bumblebee's attention dodged back and forth between Earth and Soundwave.

"00563*290*032. Objective: Protection of charge: Samuel James Witwicky. Query." Despite the lingo, Bumblebee was frantic. He was right over Earth. Just give the order! He'll be there in a pulse!

"I'm sorry Bumblebee, there's nothing I can do."

Sickening dread. Though the response wasn't surprising. Bumblebee was already on a mission and Optimus wouldn't allow Sam to be in danger. He must have information that this wasn't Soundwave's doing. And since Soundwave hadn't slagged Bee while he was distracted, it was entirely possible that he too was trying to figure out what was going on.

Either through his communication channels-

or his thoughts.

That was only a rumor of course, but one that Bumblebee wasn't about to take lightly. Either way, it's what he was there for. To be a decoy. To allow Soundwave to hack into Bumblebee's signal so that Prowl and the others could latch onto his.

If Soundwave hadn't been an issue, Bumblebee would have thoroughly scanned everything and everywhere to understand what was going on with Sam. As it was, he had to be left out in the cold. Although, by now Soundwave probably figured out how to get past the human defenses. He might have his own information on what's going on. Okay, full attention back on Soundwave. This plan had to work now! Bumblebee depended on it for Sam's sake!

Not long after that, Soundwave became privy to the ruse, almost solidifying the horror that he could read minds. Stronger, less injured and could read minds, good reasons for fretting.

Fortunately for Bumblebee, behind Hound's illusion of the never ending black sky, Optimus, Hound and Sideswipe lay hidden ready to provide cover if things went awry. Subterfuge, spying and hacking were just in a day's work for both parties. Soundwave knew this more than anyone. The situation was examined. The conclusion ended quietly when it was decided that retreat was the best course of action. Soundwave would take his losses and keep his life. Likewise the Autobots would lose a victory, but save Ratchet some hassle, as if he didn't have enough on his plate already, especially with Ironhide.

* * *

The comets struck the moon, creating even more craters on it's surface. They transformed to bipedal to enter the Ark. Optimus stepped towards the scout and slowed his pace with a firm grasp on his shoulder. With a deep, grief ridden form of an airless sigh, Optimus met optics with Bumblebee.

"I'm sorry about Sam."

Bee shrugged. Really what could they do? They were on the outside now. To be honest, Bumblebee was relieved that someone was doing something to ensure that Sam would be safe. It was that the timing seemed so damn peculiar.

"Did you get anything?" Sideswipes asked Prowl before he even stepped into the room. Prowl was hovered over center control panel. One of three that they were able to salvage.

"Considering what we have at hand, more than I was expecting." Prowl then pulled up the information and forwarded it to the holo-view. The hologram flickered and the light patterns pealed apart leaving a colorful distorted image. Despite that, it was still readable. Optimus walked around and stood to the front of the view, taking in the information they were able to siphon from Soundwave.

"You did a good job Bumblebee." Hound walked by and settled his hand momentarily on Bumblebee's shoulder. Bee smiled and nodded in return. As soon as Hound walked past Bumblebee's expression drifted back to his worried fret.

Then a harsh slap across his back, startling Bumblebee and forcing him to step forward to gain his balance. "I really didn't think you were going to be able to pull it off." Sideswipe said in an oddly warm voice. "Good use of sap story to keep Soundwave distracted." Bumblebee glared at Sideswipe over that comment. Their optics met, then Bee shrugged. "#Worked, didn't it?#" Sideswipe paused for a moment, then nodded. He joined Ironhide's side. Seeing Ironhide, Bumblebee couldn't help but shake his head in amusement. He wondered how long it would take for Ironhide to disobey Ratchet's demand to rest.

"So what were we able to pull up?"

While Prowl went over the technical details, Bumblebee slipped his way onto the empty control panel. Bumblebee had questions of his own and since he was out of the loop, he was behind in his information. Why would they take Sam now? And just how much information _did_ Soundwave pull from him?

Looking over the data, Soundwave did in fact dig his slimy tentacles in his instant messenger. Which meant the Autobots then read everything as well. Obvious by Sideswipe's statement. But then- his mind drifted to his rant. Bumblebee briefly glanced up to catch Arcee and Chromia at the far panel. Neither looked over at his direction. Both were completely saturated into their jobs. He grated, and turned his attention back to the panel.

As expected, Soundwave had a deep vested interest in the mysterious Transformer. Barricade below had been busy doing follow up research on the Autobot battles. As well as-

"This is odd." Prowl muttered which gathered a few curious looks. The main view shifted to show what Prowl was looking at. "Barricade had been looking into a rash number of human disappearances as of late. Then transmitting his information to Soundwave."

"Why would they concern themselves with humans?"

Prowl scoured through the information and shook his head. There wasn't anything fantastically important about the humans that went missing. No important names, no revealing circumstances for their disappearances. Just that they disappeared in quiet, unpopulated areas.

"What are you up to Barricade?" Optimus mumbled to himself, his pointer digit lankly grasped around his chin plate.

"Optimus!" Arcee suddenly became animated. She displayed her information on the main view. A video that had been packaged from Barricade to Soundwave. It entailed the remands of the building on Cantermound road.

"It's been completely destroyed!" Chromia hissed. It provoked Bumblebee to glance up. Projected on the hologram was a view captured by Barricade at a distance. While the hologram distorted the image, what was determined was that military personnel were working over the destroyed building, collecting bodies and pulling them from the wreckage.

"Was that Barricade's doing?"

Prowl looked through his data. "I don't have any information on that."

"What about the device and it's radiation?" Optimus's optics widened. Now Bumblebee turned animated, impatient for a response.

"I'm not detecting any dangerous levels of exposure in that area." Prowl reported.

"Hm." Optimus sunk back into thought.

"Samuel James Witwicky. #He knows something!#" Bumblebee, glanced around to catch everyone's optics. He packaged his data and carefully forwarded it to the others.

_"__Message from Bumblebee:: So the AllSpark talks to you?_

_"Yeah, I guess."_

_Message from Bumblebee:: Yeah? And what does it say to you? :3_

_"Actually, math equations. I think."_

_Message from Bumblebee:: What?  
Message from Bumblebee:: That was supposed to be a joke! I thought you said the symbols went away!_

_"They came back. Yeah, it was actually during your last fight, before you killed that big Decepticon."_

"#It's gotta be around here somewhere.##-it's making him sick!#"

Optimus thought carefully for a moment. "Both Sam and the device are in government control now. If there is no radiation leak, then it can be assumed that the humans were successful at removing it. There is nothing we can do without violating their wishes."

"Optimus." Ironhide stepped forward. "We have all felt the AllSpark's energy, including Sam. That's too important to leave down there unchecked."

"Yes, but I examined the device. It did not contain any energy from the AllSpark."

"That only means that we are missing something. I'm not entirely convinced that our victory on Mars and our victory just now still isn't a trap. Megatron may already be on this side of the galaxy. He may have tricked us into thinking that he was secured on Cybertron. He could have multiple space bridges or another Nemesis laying in wait. If that is the case-"

"It's too soon for Megatron to counter with another attack-"

"Which is why he would be using deception. It's too much of a risk to simply disregard it."

"Ironhide! I am not disregarding anything. The recent amount of battles we have been in I have no wish to put anyone in danger against a group of people who are not our enemies."

"#I'm not afraid of them.#"

"This is too important not to investigate. Our communication systems are too hindered to investigate from here." Ironhide glanced at Prowl. Prowl nodded.

"It is feasible that Soundwave knows more than what we were able to extract. Regardless if it's a trap or not, we are still virtually blind up here."

"Alright, alright." Optimus waved his hand for some quiet. He then sent out an alert to everyone on the ship. "I need everyone to report to the communication bay immediately." He then turned back to Ironhide. "This is not an issue I'll take lightly without notifying everyone of the risks." At that Ironhide nodded slightly. His ice blue optics drifted to catch Bumblebee's vivid and wild ones.

Despite the risks, Optimus was reconsidering!

They might go home after all!


	20. Defiance

_About this being late again . . . SHUSH! School and time are completely kicking me ass! i WILL still do my damndest to update weekly but I can't say it's going to be on Fridays anymore._

_Okay, also you have to check out my painting: http://ouchimoo818(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Bee-Scared-152724374  
Bee just looks SO CUTE X3_

* * *

_One last thing, OMGOSH 20 chapters!! whoot!_

* * *

**Ch 20 **

**Defiance**

Golfing at the Bermuda Islands sounded like a great place to be right about now. Anywhere but here! Well no, he couldn't stand being in Simmons presence any longer. That's why at the time he gladly took the four hour plane trip here. Now he was standing right in the center of the aftermath of a giant robot battle. Dirt, grass and debris were piled up everywhere. Why did he take on this task again? Oh right, because this is where Simmons wanted to be.

A shrill chill air wrapped its way up his spine. Just to think that hours ago it was so damned hot that he had to peel off his suit jacket. His day wasn't going very well. He left in in the vehicle that drove him here. Now it was somewhere, he didn't know where, and now it was so damned cold he needed it! The idea of warm sunny beaches sounded great. Damn those robots to hell!

He looked over his checklist of all the crap that alien monstrosity left behind in this abandoned building. Why it was here and what it was for? Kleiss didn't know, nor did he care. Just like the robots, he wanted it _gone_!

He approached a group of people in hazmat suits beyond a troop of military personnel. He did his best to ignore the camo-geared men and their M16s at hand. Kleiss just wanted one question answered and the scientists were the ones who knew.

"How much longer!?" He had to raise his pitch to combat the whipping wind. The make shift plastic wrap rattled in the wind making a racket of noise. The man looked up at him behind his mask.

"We got the last of the material out. We're running the last of the scans now." The man was yelling to keep up with the wind as well. The plastic around his head didn't help either. "We should be able to get the demolition team in at about thirty minutes."

"The sooner! The better!" Kleiss yelled back.

The man in the hazmat turned away. Behind him another hazmat suit was caring a large re-enforced container into the truck. Kleiss couldn't help but fume over the things the aliens left behind. They made his life more difficult! Kleiss blew out a loft of heavy, frustrated air out of his lungs. He debated whether or not he should see through to the whole operation or assign one of his lackeys to the task. He'd debate it over a cigarette. But first, he needed to find a place out of the wind to light it. Turning back through the military men he made his way to find a wind block. Of course the other buildings in the area were worthless as the robots seemed fit to just mow them all down. He hovered around one of the white trucks. Cupping his hand over the lighter he tried to flicker his lighter to life. It was futile. Six flicks later he looked around for a more suitable location. He was getting so irritated!

So frustrated that he nearly failed to care that the men with guns suddenly started rushing towards the truck yelling and screaming. Once the guns clattered and popped with noise did they garner his full attention. Before his adrenaline could spike or he could gain his wits about him, he backed up and looked beyond the truck. Above him, towered a monster. The metal gleamed slightly in the gray sky. It screamed and threw a hiss of static in the air, then the truck went sailing. His cigarette slipped out of his fingers, then red optics flicked down at him.

Then all went black.

* * *

"Simmons!"

Simmons's body rotated slightly to watch the stubby, sharply pale man shuffle up to him. Clearly running wasn't a common undertaking for this guy. The stubby little fingers were another testament to that fact. He also had shockingly bright red hair and freckles. Really nothing to do with hampering his ability to move but for a guy dressed up in a government suit, he just looked- odd. "Agent Kleiss, sir! He, he's a," a shocked pause or maybe just to gasp for much needed air, "he didn't make it."

Black eyes twitched inside their sockets. He turned away again to look through the bullet proof glass that gave him a view of a large room below him. There the fragments and pieces of the strange device still lay disassembled. The room was completely empty of human life, per Simmons's orders.

Oh how these problems snowballed. First was the massive broadcast of the presences of the Transformers all across the world. Then this past week the giant good ones were forced off the planet. Up a creek without a paddle, no lifeline, _hell_ Earth did everything possible to cut them off from protecting the Earth. Yeah, that was a big problem. As much as he despised the idea of metal godzillas playing hopscotch in their cities, he knew better now. Their problems with giant robots weren't going to go away any time soon. So now there's this _thing_ that has the ability to snuff out people's lives on a whim. Nobody has any idea how to get rid of it outside of just launching it into space. If the Autobots _really_ wanted to deal with it, they can have all the time not-in-the-world to deal with it. The idea was getting some traction in Washington, but how long would that take. Decades!? They didn't have days let alone years for decisions that required money to be made! Then there was some bad activity going on back at that building. Decepticon activity; Simmons was sure. Now as much as he despised Kleiss and did his best to ride the line of keeping his job, and infuriating the man, he wasn't proud nor happy that he got caught up in the attack. It could have easily been him! So now, Kleiss is dead and those remnants, are missing. And Washington still thinks they can handle the problems themselves. Way to shuffle their feet and think with their ass.

"Sir?" The little man behind Simmons questioned when he wasn't getting a response. Whoever was going to be Kleiss's replacement wasn't going to be him. Simmons still couldn't get the control he wanted.

"You think this is bad, it will only get worse!"

"Worse? How could it get any worse?!"

Simmons scoffed at the absurdly naive question. He was so flabbergasted he could only respond with a cold look. Then his eyes shot back towards the device. This thing needed to be dealt with. If anything it was only going to attract trouble.

"This place is going to be hit next." His eyes dodged around surveying the building. Subconsciously he began shaking his head. It was time for him to take action! "I have to make a call." Simmons muttered solemnly.

Mr. Jackson instantly caught on to what that meant. "Sir, you don't have the clearance or the authority to do that." Not the best choice of words to use on the guy who thinks everyone else is incompetent.

Simmons's face steeled over and he shot his glaring eyes into Jackson's. "Then we need to find someone who does!"

"Washington has ordered a lock down. There is no way they-"

"Then find someone with the authority and get them to Washington! This is a matter of life or death!"

The man snorted frustrated air out of his nostrils. "You really think we're doomed without those robots?"

"Indubitably." Simmons ground his jowls together.

An awkward pause followed. Jackson twitched as he debated with himself to divulge information. He hissed out a breeze of constricted air from between his teeth and tongue.

"Come with me then. I have something to show you." The man turned away sharply. Simmons's head perked back, in confident strides he followed in step.

Jackson lead them into a room full of computers and monitors.

"What's this?" Simmons questioned glancing around quickly. Before the man could answer Simmons knew just by looking at the outputs of data and spikes of unearthly signals displayed on the screens. It brought back eerily familar and negative feelings for two reasons. One, it reminded him of the days when he was in control and two, just how incompetent everyone was!

"You know that information Kleiss requested? Well there was a project back in two thousand three to two thousand seven where they were following this robot. To track him they studied the pipelines of the internet to-"

"I'm well aware of that! I was on the team." Simmons acutely cut him off. _Pipelines?_ Where on Earth did this guy learn his terminology?

"Okay well, it was put back in affect when the robots left the planet. To keep an eye on them. Or at least, the Camaro." He reached over and flicked a keyboard button to pull the nearest monitor to enlarge the window. "Whenever he goes online, we know it. And a few minutes ago, our little bot here started up a conversation with a Ladiesman two seventeen." A pause as if trying to pull in some tension. When he wasn't getting it from Simmons he asked quite honestly, "heard of 'im?"

Simmons read through a couple of lines before shaking his head. Nothing could really be discerned from the one sided conversation. "So?"

Jackson, rolled back a little surprised at Simmons lack of enthusiasm. Completely loosing the train of his smarmy attitude he continued. "We called in COINTELPRO to take that kid into custody. Kleiss figured that the yellow one will get lovesick or something. And if he comes to Earth, he voids the contract and bam!" Jackson smacked his fist into his palm. "We can do whatever we want with him."

That caused Simmons to draw his fingers into a tightened grasp over the cheap pleather chair. His knuckles bleached white. "I don't believe this!" He hissed under his breath. A moment to read another new line, then growled. "That's what caused Sector Seven to be dismantled in the first place! Because the treatment was considered cruel and unusual punishment! Besides, he eluded us for four years! Hell the only reason why we-"

- were able to capture him was because of the boy.

Sam Witwicky.

That made sense. Bumblebee was singled out as the easiest target out of all the Autobots. Even TweedleDee and TweedleDumb was passed in the consideration. The Camaro had the most data compiled against him during the period that Sector Seven initially tracked him down. He also had the strongest connection to humans among the Autobots. Easier to bait the robot rather than chase it. Usually too smart for traps but experience told them that the Camaro does in fact get reckless if the kid's safety is involved. The wild look in Simmons eye was that he was ready to pounce and kill the nearest person.

Simmons eyes drifted to the other people working in the lab. Then something more important caught his eye on the messenger.

Message from Bumblebee:: That was supposed to be a joke! I thought you said the symbols went away!

His eyes popped open. He knew all about the Autobots sensing AllSpark radiation. With the lubricator's comment that almost guarantees that the AllSpark information had returned to the boy's mind. That could work to his advantage after all. Besides, what would Kleiss do if Simmons decided to act independently? Fire him? So now, he had a way to dismantle that thing without the Transformer's help after all. Unfortunately Simmons didn't have much time and he didn't have the authority to call the mission off.

"Give me your phone!"

"What?"

"Give it to me!" Simmons growled. He pulled out his own phone and snatched out Jackson's phone as well. He stepped outside and began dialing numbers on each phone. He used his phone to dial Leo. He knew without hesitation that Leo would answer it. Holding both phones to his ear, Jackson's was the first to pick up. "Yeah it's Simmons! I need a pickup and I need it quick! T-minus five minutes. The whole world's counting on you!"

* * *

There was an incredibly long pause. Sam begun swapping his attention between the computer and his phone. There was still no reply from Bumblebee. What did 'hold on' mean anyway? He sighed and slumped in his chair desperately hoping that it wasn't Soundwave attacking. That would be so Bee. 'Hold on, I'm being attacked. bbl. Smiley face here.' His finger tapped against his pant leg. After another grueling moment Sam couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Yeah, I don't know, I mostly notice them in my sleep. I'm sure everything will, I donno." Sam blustered. "It's not like it was as constant as before. You know?" Sam's mind dodged around hoping for a quick reply. If Soundwave was there he probably shouldn't be talking about the AllSpark, which is exactly why it should provoke Bumblebee into a response of _something_!

Message from Bumblebee:: Anyways Sam, thanks for letting me vent out on you.

Message from Bumblebee:: It did help.

Yeah, Bumblebee completely ignored his statement. It was an issue, but at least it wasn't his guardian screaming to not talk about it, which then might of made him worry. Scratch that, he was still worried.

"Yeah. No problem. Say Bee-"

"Sam!" Leo suddenly burst through the door with enough force to crack the door into the wall. "Dude, you gotta get out of here!" Sam jumped and swiveled to face his roommate in surprise. "I just got a call from Simmons! Social Service, or Secret Service. I donno, but somebody is heading over here, right now!"

"What? Why would they come now?"

"I do'no man, but you should get out of here! Simmons said he was gonna try and intervene."

"Bee I have to go!" Sam haphazardly dropped his phone to his desk as he grabbed for his backpack. Cloths, soap, homework- ah forget the homework- Oo! Laptop, don't forget the laptop! He closed his laptop and haphazardly shoved it into his backpack. It didn't fit. Okay he pulled out his laptop and crammed his clothing to one side. He tried to force in the laptop once again. No go. In defeat he threw the machine out of his backpack and forced the zipper shut on the bag. He slipped the backpack over his shoulders, crammed his cellphone in his pocket, hugged his laptop and rushed to the hall.

Before his mind could grasp anything he realized that Mikaela went out to get food and he didn't know where she was. He headed towards the main entrance to see if he could spot her before he made his retreat out of-

_No way!_

Three men dressed entirely in black were coming down the hall.

_Already? _Sam stood there in a stupor. Then one shouted out to him.

_That was- !! He just- !! _

_They're here already!?_

Behind Sam Leo gasped obviously shocked by the same revelation. "Oh shit! Go down that way!"

Sam didn't need to be told twice. He turned and bolted into a run. The men shouted at them again. Sam just needed to get to the stairwell on the other end of the building. Running down the hall soon became an obstacle course as people now cluttered to the halls to watch men in black chase down two boys who knew things about aliens. Sam glanced back behind to see how far of a lead he gained. Looking forward again he slammed himself into a stop. In his face were two more agents.

"Hold it, son." The man in black raised his hand out to stop Sam. "Going some where?"

"Uh, I um." Sam's eyes widened at the two men in front of him, he glanced back to see the three behind him. Then a glance around to look at his surroundings. They were right in front of the bathrooms. "I was, on my way to- take a shower!" Sam replied with a sharp breath of air. Sam fidgeted as he became surrounded.

"With you're laptop?"

"Well, yeah. I'm a nerd. You know, I can't go anywhere without it."

The men weren't amused. Well one was, he had a partial smirk on his face. The quiet atmosphere made the sudden burst of noise from Sam's phone apparent. Sam glanced down at his pocket as it would somehow save him.

"Who's texting you? That you're alien friend?" Then a hand shot forward in demanding while another man relieved Sam of his laptop. The extended hand flexed the fingers in a motion of 'give'. Sam begrudgingly obeyed, all the while with the look of an animal in headlights plastered on Sam's face. The man glanced at it with a stoic expression as he examined the cellphone screen. "Let's go!" He then ripped the battery from the phone.

Sam gave one last glance to Leo as he was escorted down the hall.

"You can't do this! This has to be totally illegal! Right? I mean what are you? Like FBI or, I haven't even seen your badges!" Leo tried to put up a defense for Sam.

"Son, you are interfering with a criminal investigation. Stand down now, or you will be arrested."

"Wh- what criminal?" Then a bigger shock. "Arrested!?"

The man didn't answer him. Instead he gave Leo the cold shoulder.

Sam was lead towards the front door where a black sedan was waiting for him. Behind them was Leo and behind Leo was a parade of people who needed to sate their curiosity. Sam's eyes shot around chaotically trying to find Mikaela. Her actual person was nowhere to be found. His eyes caught something else instead.

Across the way was a white van with McClaren Robotics in blue lettering across the side. Sam started at it for a moment. As if that was a signal.

Simmons was going to try and intervene! Could this be it?

Sam glanced to the van's window. Just as he hoped, the men inside burst to animation when they saw Sam.

It must be the intervention!

Mindlessly Sam was pushed forward to the black car. Another quick glance up at the van. He narrowed his eye and tightened his jaw. He wasn't handcuffed but he was surrounded. Every step towards the car was like a step towards death. This was it, he was finally going to disappear. Despite his flight and fight mode kicking in, his mind latched onto a few cognitive fleeting moments. He was never going to see anybody he loved ever again! A huff of adrenaline took over. Then with a burst of determination that garnered him trust and love of giant robots, he thrust himself away from his captors, two large strided steps towards the car then he leapt up and slid over the car hood. Landing on the ground on the other side, he bolted into a run for the van. A bright car nearly slammed into him. A loud screech and a startling sense of pressure on his arm knocking him over partially, Sam disregarded it and bound towards the van. To his relief the door swung open granting him access.

Safely inside, he glanced back only to be over come by horror. Mikaela shrieked for him. Just as he pulled away from the strange men in black, Mikaela pulled herself out of the cab. She saw the whole interaction, she then rushed towards him.

"Mikaela!" Sam yelled out for her. She was just yards away from joining him, unfortunately so were the mass of black suited men. Someone yanked him back and the door slammed shut separating him from her. He yelled and tried to pull away from their grasp, just as he felt the vehicle around him move.

He frantically looked around to see her but there were no windows permitting him to do so.

* * *

Ever since the beginning of the war, decisions were never easy.

He really had to hand it to Ironhide. Although irritated by his method Ironhide would not let Optimus ignore his truest feelings. His interest was to cater to the humans' wants but on the other hand his wants to do what he direly felt was the right thing to do. He nearly forfeited his feeling, but Ironhide was quick to call him out on it. As soon as Ironhide pinned him to consolidate for a decision Bumblebee beamed with optimism. They wanted to do the right thing too, but now there were even more dangers. And he could not issue the order without seeing how the rest felt. He called everyone else to the room and discussions and deliberations went underway. He carefully examined the apprehension and hopefulness displayed on each faceplate. He knew the background of his team well, but he was not about to rush into a decision for them. Each had their own comments and their own feelings.

He of course knew where Bumblebee, Wheelie and Ironhide stood. They wanted to protect their human families. Despite the twins displays of playful carelessness, he could sense their apprehension. Jolt was very apprehensive about the idea but was also conflicted with his love with being on a planet that wasn't desolate and barren. He could not pin down Sideswipes train of thought. It concerned him. Arcee, Chromia, Prowl and Hound gave in their input but it was clear that regardless of what he ordered, they would be satisfied with the decision. His biggest worry- was Ratchet. Since his death at the hands of Megatron, Ratchet felt that being complacent to the humans' demands was the wisest solution to prevent hostility from their governments. As of late, his wisdom had been waved down. Not because Optimus didn't value it, but because he expected that their time on Earth may be coming to a close. He simply wanted to allow the members of his team their last fleeting moments with their loved ones. Now they were debating this issue once again, and this time he did not want to undermine his medic's sapience. However, Ironhide was as keen as always to fend off criticism if he saw fit.

"You can't change my mind Ratchet!" Ironhide growled while pacing the room. "I'm going down there. And that's final." Ironhide puffed himself up to display his noncompliance.

Optimus stood back, his arms crossed in front of him. He discretely closed his audio channels to the others so he could speak to Ratchet alone.

"He is very passionate about this." Optimus observed.

"I have noticed. What will you do if he does decide to go rogue on you?" Ratchet responded. Ironhide was still prowling around the room muttering calls to action.

"He won't. It's just talk. But I could use your invaluable advice more than ever."

"Am I under the assumption that you will actually consider it?"

"I always consider your advice. However at times, I must weigh all my options."

Ratchet shot Optimus a slightly amused expression, giving Ironhide pause as he realized they were carrying on a conversation in lieu. Ratchet eyed Ironhide carefully.

"I know I won't be able to change your mind. I'm not even going to try." Ratchet replied matter of factly to the group as a whole. Ironhide had ruptured his comet alt's shell while taking out the bridge. Going back to Earth put Ironhide's chance of suffering a fatal landing up to forty two percent. However, Ironhide's iron will wasn't something to be trifled with. He then opened up his communications to Optimus once again. "You're right, he won't go rogue. That is because you have already made your decision. My only concern is I have this task that I must work on." Ratchet enclosed a packet for Optimus. "It may prove no results, but I must try!"

"I understand. What about-"

"No. I do not want to lead them with a false sense of raised spirits. Especially Arcee."

"Very well."

Both sets of optics diverted when Ironhide's cold steely blue ones were fixed on the two. Optimus and Ratchet expanded their communication channels once again now that their discussion was concluded.

"I regret to inform you but I will be staying on the ship." Ratchet told everyone else. A wave of even greater apprehension. "It will only be for a few days. I have some matters I must attend to." He turned to face Optimus though keeping the comms open. "I know you don't want to split up the team but Jolt and I were able to get the field dampener to an operational level. Soundwave will not be able to see you descend and he will not be able to know that I've stayed behind."

"I could stay behind." Jolt spoke up.

"It's not necessary. Earth needs you more than I do. Ironhide, I demand that you don't get yourself killed on landing! That goes for the rest of you. Don't get yourself killed."

"On Earth we will stay hidden. As long as we stay aware of our surroundings, we shouldn't have any trouble with the humans. Ratchet, good luck." Optimus paused to carefully consider and package his instructions. After he sent them out he did one last study over his team. "Autobots, roll out."

_Despite being terrible at managing my time, wow, I don't remember this being a problem in the past! I am still writing up Spark of Hope. I'm sorry that updates are long and far between but at least be happy to know that it's not a dead project._


	21. Unwelcome Home

Eep. I did a bad, bad thing at school. :( On the bright side, I got this updated. . Yay right? right. . .

awww.

* * *

**Ch 21**

**Unwelcome Home**

The flames licked against his force field. He was going back to the thick atmosphere that allowed the presence of music. It should have been uplifting to his spirits but he wasn't thrilled. Sam was gone and the circumstances behind his disappearance had gone from strange to bad. Prowl would have no comment or speculation outside of the given data, but Bumblebee could see it as plain as day. The government had gone to great efforts to lock out any Transformer prying. One phone call high in their ranks that just happened to leak information about taking Sam just screamed trap. It also meant they would be gunning for the Autobots. Optimus saw this, and it was clear he was worried. Despite that everyone was going without complaint. And that was even with Ratchet staying behind! Bumblebee couldn't help but pander how Optimus does it. How he keeps everyone together. He shuttered. The not so distant memory of sensing Optimus's spark fade out drew nervous tension down his processors. The Autobots would be so lost without him.

Chunks of his outer shell split off and shriveled up in a blaze as the heavy friction gnashed against his body. He couldn't help but fix his scanners on Ironhide. Stubborn bastard! They were flaunting resources they didn't have. Everyone's healing was now hindered because of the near constant battles and alt changes. Ironhide was no better, in fact, worse! He suffered a large crack to his armor when he crashed into the arm of the bridge. Now the atmosphere was pulling off pieces and soon to be yet another transformation once Earth bound. That is if he doesn't break himself in half upon impact first! In a way Bee kind of regretted wanting to go back to Earth. He was just as guilty as Ironhide at making Ratchet's life so difficult. On the other hand they were far too concerned over their human families to care about their own well being. They knew all too well that they took Ratchet for granted.

No wonder he's always so damned grumpy.

Below him and coming up fast was a vast forest. Still mostly a dark green canopy but some leaves had already begun the process of the yearly die off. Strangely normal and strangely beautiful as they turned vividly colorful before everything took the resemblance of death. He liked the colors, but he failed to be as sentimental as some of the others about the trees. To him, they were just convenient to break their falls and to provide some cover for the inevitable army that is sure to follow.

Good for both accounts, because he really wasn't looking forward to either.

Impact.

Plowing through several yards of dirt and vegetation he skidded to a stop. Stiff and soreness could not hinder him in the slightest for his mission. Once his coolant flowed thoroughly through his body he transformed into his bipedal form.

Beyond the time it took him to transform, Ironhide crashed and lay still. Moments later and he yet to move, Bumblebee raced to his mentor's side in a panic, plowing through the many obstacles of the forest to get to him. By the time he got there, Arcee was already at his side.

"Ironhide!" Arcee's voice squabbled as she knelt down to look him over. If he was hurt she was the only one among them who knew enough medical to hopefully patch him up. While she looked him over Bumblebee glanced up to see the comet forms rain down around him.

"I've told you many times I hate flying, hm?" Ironhide remarked in irritation.

"Yes, many times." Arcee cooed back as relief crossed over her.

"Yes well, I hate flying."

Slowly and carefully the parts peeled away and reassembled. The pressure of air was needlessly noisy as Ironhide flushed his systems a few times over. Just in the sheer delight of having an atmosphere again. They waited as patiently as they could while Ironhide slowly made his way to his feet. Processors and data riffled through their circuits as they plotted the best course to the rendezvous point. Although this time, their landing trajectories were clustered closer together other than normal. The hum of rotary blades from several helicopters a short distance away elucidated as to why.

Optics scoured over the landscape, then they quickly disappeared into the foliage. Now it was just a matter of regrouping, reformat their alt modes and head south to investigate what happened to the building.

The tasks resulted in little difficulty. The helicopters hummed and hovered over the landing sites, clearly not picking up the energies the Autobots had kept hidden from them. Though the sparse roads didn't provide very many vehicles, most had kept their Earth terrestrial form. Mostly because they expected to return.

Ironhide rolled up in his GMC Topkick with a slight modification to disguise himself from prior knowledge. Instead of black, he was now red.

Bumblebee realized that he was probably the most recognizable out of everyone. Ah yes, the infallible wisdom of advanced creatures from a far, far away planet. That was sarcasm of course. Bumblebee intended on modifying his alt form to a solid black to better disguise himself. Alas his worry between Sam, memories of Optimus, Ironhide and the helicopters that fruitlessly scoured the area and the general circumstances, he royally messed up his modifications to his alt configuration. Now his color scheme consisted with a gleaming black coat with bright, yellow stripes. No, that doesn't stand out at all!

Ironhide looked him over and simply hmmed.

#Hey, at least I tried!# The radio hosted relatively upbeat, Bumblebee wasn't. It was a stupid error on his part, but he wasn't going to pull any more resources to change it.

* * *

A small shiny form of metal clicked as it was set upright at the table near them. The bullet round stood tall, narrow and unremarkable.

"You recognize what this is don't you?" The question was mocking yet the voice had an air of authoritative seriousness to it. Of course Epps recognized it. He did so immediately. The ammunition cartridge scattered a prism of colors where normally the bullet looked copper. The tip was painted black like a standard armor piercing round but this one was a special. Only NEST personal used these rounds. They were designed to penetrate Decepticon armor- or any Transformer armor for that matter.

"Yes, Sir." Epps replied in a completely neutral and completely confident tone despite his irritation. He was stiff in his poised standing as his eyes shot forward. He didn't flinch the slightest when the man questioning them stepped into his view.

"It's an interesting piece of technology." The bullet was picked up once again and examined closely. "Made from aggregated diamond nanorods. Hardest material on Earth." It rolled the shell into the palm of his hand.

"And what does that have to do with us, Sir?" Epps cast a glint of anger into his eyes. He already knew the answer and he didn't like it.

"As you know, at seventeen hundred hours, eleven projectiles entered Earth's atmosphere. They landed inside Sproul State Forest, Pennsylvania and managed to flee the area without detection." He paused to let the information sink in. "That's where you come in. You gentlemen, are the only ones with the experience and know how to find them and stop them."

"You want us to go hunt them down?" A member of the disassembled NEST team asked.

"Affirmative."

"And if we refuse?" One soldier responded, but his voice was drown out by another.

"Bollocks! You know as well as we do that those are NEST operatives! We're not going to hunt down our own allies!"

"NEST doesn't exist! I don't know how things work in your country, but here in the U S, we don't backtalk chain of command!"

"We won't do it." Epps replied stiffly making the general eat his words. Obviously not pleased with his statement, the man whipped his head back and stormed up and into Epps's face.

"You _do _realize you are under investigation for your recent misconduct in Egypt. As I see it, you boys are in heaps of trouble the way it is. If you do not cooperate now, you will be court martialed!"

"Then I guess you better start arresting us."

"All of us."

* * *

Hours of driving they slowly wheeled into the location. It was surprisingly quiet here. Apparently it had been abandoned since Barricades scouting. The building was thoroughly leveled but as Prowl had stated, the area wasn't giving off any dangerous amounts of radiation. Bits and pieces here and there, but nothing to be concerned with. Now it was time to try and figure out what or who caused this.

Luckily, for them, they had Hound, the best of the best.

"I'm getting multiple trails here." Hound replied, his strained voice had a odd metallic warble etched in it. "I think." He looked perplexed as he stared at the dirt. When Optimus approached Hound's optics cast upwards to his leader.

"So, Megatron managed to get an army here." Ironhide nodded solemnly in sort of a 'I told you so fashion'.

A strong sense of worry riffled over Optimus's facial expressions. "How many?"

"It's hard to tell. I pick up on one trail, it just goes cold, but then I pick up another." At Hound's statement, Optimus furrowed his faceplates.

"If Megatron had this many troops, why didn't he use them when he was defending the Harvester?" Sideswipe questioned rolling into view.

"That's the thing. It's nobody I recognize. No soldier anyway. I mean, unless Megatron grew desperate and recruited a bunch of civies?"

"No." Optimus was sunk in thought. "None of that makes sense. Something else is at work here. Hound, I need you to track them down."

"I can try." Hound stood uneasy. "It won't be easy."

Optimus nodded. "Bumblebee?" He turned to look at the scout. Bumblebee shrugged with a perplexed look on his face. He'd leave this up to Hound because this was going way over his head.

Optimus vented and turned back to Hound. "Do what you can."

"Yessir." Hound nodded, then paused as his sensors perked. His head wiped towards the direction of the sound. Arcee and Chromia heard it too.

"Incoming!" Arcee sounded. Per the direction she was pointing, echos of sounds pierced behind the incoming jets. Glancing around, it was clear this place wasn't as abandoned as they originally thought.

"Sensor cameras. The military must have set them up."

"They must have known we'd come here!"

"Then let's get out of here before they get a visual."

* * *

"This is just fantastic." He muttered sarcastically under his breath. When Simmons told Leo he prepared an intervention, he wouldn't have imagined it meant getting on an airplane for four hours and then getting stuck out in this dump. This building looked like it should have been condemned. He had no idea where Mikaela was and he wasn't allowed to contact her to tell her anything. Nor did he have a clue as to why he was even here!

"How's it going kid?" Simmons's voice pierced from across the dimly lit hall causing Sam to swivel and face the voice.

"Hey, what is this? This isn't any better than getting taken by social services!" Sam stormed up and hissed at Simmons. Simmons stood stiffly and didn't even meet his eyes. They were fixed off to the side, not really looking at anything.

"I need you, to come with me."

Sam sighed in dismay. "Why?" Sam couldn't help but feel like the lamb being lead to his own slaughter.

"There's something I need to show you." Abruptly the agent turned away and expected him to follow. Sam glanced up at the few people surrounding him and begrudgingly obeyed. He didn't like any of this, it completely reminded him of being led around under the Hoover Dam. This time however, he was lead right back out to the car again. The back door was opened for him. For now, Sam passively obeyed. He was forced to scoot to the middle while the seat filled up squishing him shoulder to shoulder. Sam twitched nervously while keeping his eyes on Simmons.

"Relax kid. It's just a short ride from here."

The front passenger turned around and presented a black piece of cloth. Immediately Sam was taken aback.

"You're blindfolding me!?" Sam raised his hands in defense but hot, sweaty hands wrap around his wrists to hold his arms at bay.

"Just a precaution." The man to his left told him. The car engine started and Simmons shifted into gear.

"I would have been here sooner, but work came up. Had to take care of some things." Simmons glanced back over the seat. Then as an after thought, "Kid for their sakes, I sure hope they know what they are doing."

"What who's doing?"

The blindfold was put into place and Sam's question went unanswered. At least for a long while.

"You're Autobot friends." Simmons left it at that despite Sam's pleas for clarification.

They drove for awhile. Then as they got close Sam could suddenly sense where they were headed. Somehow he could feel a pull. As they got closer it became so overwhelming it was hard to ignore. By the time the tires rolled to a stop, there was so much pressure built up inside Sam's head, he could barely focus. It felt like static vibrating between his ears coupled massive sinus pressure that made his head feel like it was about to explode. He could barely tell that he was being pulled out of his seat. Sam slumped to the car and reached for the black cloth.

"N'uh. Not yet." A voice echoed. A hand brushed his shoulder pushing Sam forward.

Sam's palms pressed against his temples as he tried to fight the static rolling around his head. Ever step they took, the worse it got.

"Simmons where are we?"

"If I told you, it would completely defeat the purpose of the blindfold wouldn't it."

"No seriously. What is this? I feel like I'm going to throw up!" He felt a cold wall and braced himself against it resting his head to soak up the cool concrete. There the blindfold was lifted. Through blurry eyes Sam looked up at Simmons. Simmons was actually looking at him in concern.

"What? Like throw up now?" Simmons stared at the kid. Sam looked deathly pale.

Sam rolled his head but swallowed back some of his nausea. "No I just feel sick." Before Simmons could formulate a change of plans a loud crack was heard behind him.

"Simmons! What the hell are you doing!?" Jackson burst through the door at the other end of the hall. "You brought an unauthorized civilian here!? I should have never-" Simmons wasn't listening to him. All his attention went back to Sam as the boy suddenly whimpered and stumbled around the room with his hands clasped around his head.

The second the door flew open, the washy waves in his head amplified. His head now felt like it detached itself from reality and was comprised of only static. His eyesight went black. He didn't realize that his palms were jabbed inside his eye sockets. The swirls of geometric patterns of light danced in a crazy sporadic array of colors inside the blackness. Then alien symbols, one after another formed and scattered. Compiling and computing faster than Sam's conscious level could keep up. They drew him in closer. Sam's eyes shot open, his eyes fixed on the door. His sight was gray and hazy, but sight wasn't important. Just the direction. Moving blobs between him and there blocked his path, but they couldn't stop him.

Sam stormed towards the door. Jackson stepped in the way to stop him.

"No! Let him do his thing." Simmons raised out his hand to stop him. He let Sam pass and then followed. "Ohh, here we go. It's talking to him."

"Simmons your going to get both of us in deep sh-"

Sam screamed and twisted back. Red drops of blood splattered the floor in a cascade of circles. Sam hunched over for a second grasping at his head again. Every breath he took quaked his body. Simmons eyes went huge, now wondering if he went too far.

* * *

"OPTIMUS!" Ironhide's voice rumbled out.

"I know, I sense it!"

"We all sense it!"

"What about the humans?"

"Shyt, we left them in the dust. They ain't no concern to us no moar!"

"No, but they seem to sense the energy as well. Look! They're heading that way." Indeed, the helicopters that had been attempting to pursue them suddenly found a solid direction to focus on.

"Then we need to get there before they do."

* * *

Like a shot Sam bounded forward towards the clear glass that overlooked a room below them. Sam was mumbling incoherently and occasionally threw in a few words of English.

" ffff perpen fff dicular ffff divisible by thirty two and ffff eight- fififity- nine to the tenth power" His hands coated in blood, he reached up, and scribbled out alien symbols along with an assortment of symbols used in basic math.

"What is he doing?"

"nottamap, nottamap. Nosomethingdifferent, something, no,no no no no. It's not right, it's not right. The equations don't make any sense!"

"I don't know."

More sticky orangish blood was brushed away from the fountain under his nose and spread across the window.

"Jackson! You gotta marker on you?"

"A marker!?"

"Yah! A marker!"

Marker presented. Simmons grabbed it and stepped up towards Sam to give it to him. Upon touching Sam's shoulder Sam turned and thrashed an animal-like snarl at Simmons, clawing and scratching at him for interrupting. Simmons stepped back frightened at the blood smeared, frenzy eyed human that had him in his clutches. His strength was inconceivable. That look, didn't look human! Sam mumbled, he twitched, his wild eyes now fixed to the black writing utensil. Sam studied it intently slowly cocking his head as he did. It was as if this was the first time he had ever seen such a contraption. He snatched it and turned back to the window. There the black marker took precedence over the blood writing.

"Simmons! Do something!"

Simmons eyes shot to his lacky as he was still feeling the powerful pressure where Sam grasped his arm. "I don't think that would be a good idea!"

"It might not be a good idea if he continues."

"Alright." Simmons nodded. "You, stop him."

"No way! You're the one that brought him here!"

* * *

This wasn't good. The AllSpark energy could be felt as plain as dirt. Or something very similar to the AllSpark's radiation. Something wasn't quite exact, but it was just as powerful. Something that would easily attract the attention of any Decepticon in the galaxy.

The Petebilt swerved to avoid a pile of torched metal. Around them was scattered pieces of debris everywhere.

Before them, a massive Transformer was hunched in the center of the road. The vehicles slowed and stayed behind Optimus.

Optimus quietly rolled to a stop.

"I will find it! I will FIND IT!" The Transformer brushed his claws against the pieces of concrete. "It's here. It's here. Somewhere. Somewhere nearby! I will find it and I will be complete!"

Since the truck mode was being ignored, Optimus transformed and slid his weapon into place. He stepped forward cautiously as fear built up even inside the great Autobot leader. The transformer stopped his mumbling listening intently behind him. Then he slowly stood to his full height, his back still facing them. He towered even Optimus. Optimus's gaze casted upwards. He took a step back, his body clanking at the weight.

"Sideswipe!" Arcee hissed while choking back her own disbelief. He stood next to her with his mouth plate gaped, his optics wide. "I thought you ripped his spark out!"

"I did!"

"And what!? He regenerated that too!?" Chromia bit back with dry sarcasm overpowered with shock.

Sideswipe didn't respond. His optics scanned over the Transformer with scrutiny. He should be at the bottom of the bay!

The Decepticon slowly turned with an overly amused look on his face.

"Hello!" For the first time he spoke in English. Coyly playful English. Optimus's optics immediately darted to the face of the speaker. Everyone else studied the sparkless hole with intense morbid curiosity. Optics darted to one another for verification that they weren't the only ones baffled and horrified. The Decepticon in return flinched his maw into a sinister smile, provoking the Autobots to take another step further back. Then with a cocky sinister tone, he spoke again. "Someone took my spark. Could I have yours?"

* * *

_YESSSS they are finally back on Earth!!!! I know, I know I was just as miserable as you. But now they're back! -_-. _  
What was that about doubletap :\


	22. Fugitives

_.*Note I am rewriting my author notes. . because otherwise. . I would be swearing EVER OTHER ****ING WORD!!_

_Yep, Late again! I had a fun weekend! *grumbles* SO yeah, I had nearly my ENTIRE chapter written up and ready to go. I was listening to the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack, and LOVIN IT! So much so that I wanted to buy the songs so that I could put them on my ipad mini. Okay, nobody will get the joke I'm sure. Whatever, I'ma mused. Thing is .. . I . . .am NOT an Apple fan. NEVER was. I had to use apples all through highschool and again during my tech school years for the graphic design program. They wouldn't bother me so much, except for the little thing called, mac fanboys/girls and . . the fact that you can't get ANY decent programs unless you want to shell out fifty to a couple hundred bucks at a time. (I'm sure they've gotten better now that they've become more main stream. . but one thing I always hated the most when dealing with the Apple. . was. . . I TUNES! . *YEAH BEST OF BEST *grumbles, thats because you didn't have any other options, unless. . .VLC. . with NO playlist option! PFT! Yeah, easy to be best when YOUR THE ONLY ONE! Anyways. . . I was given a ipod touch for xmas and for simplistic reasons . .downloaded itunes, and YES quicktime too. . cuz it's not like i got a choice in the matter. So, was using up a gift card that I was given . .to buy some music. . and .. . *Poof, some server problem came up, so you can't by that song!* __But somehow. . That destroyed everything that I was doing online all at once. Including wiping out the last 12 hours of my writing._

* * *

**Ch 22**

**Fugitives**

"What is this? How the slag is this possible!?" Sideswipe reeled back as he glared at the hole he himself tore the spark out of! It wasn't the first time a Transformer came back from the dead, and Primus permitting not the last. However, there was a grave difference in this set of circumstances. Megatron's spark fizzled to unusable condition by the sheer intensity of the AllSpark. Optimus's spark had been pierced and scorched into decommission, however neither being parted with their sparks. Their sparks were not removed from their bodies, boxed up and housed in some government closet somewhere!

Sideswipe growled out trying to bay the rampant tension growing through his circuits. He threw his weapons to bare readying himself to strike. Red optics sliced their gaze to Sideswipe. They narrowed. They recognized. Rage boiled over the Transformer's form; the large body shot forward in a blur knocking his foes back. They yelped as they toppled in disarray. Thrown to his back Sideswipe opened his apertures. Above him the giant hovered. Sideswipe grunted a sharp hiss when he realized where the optics were focused, staring intently at his chest cavity. An eye for an eye, or in case a spark for a spark. Gritting his mouth panels, Sideswipe glanced around to the others. At present they were filled with much more horror than the capacity to react. Tension mounted when the large Transformer slowly turned his head to study each and every one of them. He breathed in their fears like a drunken high and gurgled with laughter.

Optimus picked himself up from behind them. Quick to study, he saw the hesitation in his troops. "Autobots! Target the head!" He shouted out to give them focus and a directive. He then unleashed his good blade, leaping forward and driving it down into his foe's back. The metal seared and his enemy warbled out a howl. The Transformer threw Optimus a dirty glare before slamming his arm rearwards tossing Optimus back.

Optimus slid across the dirt and quickly gained his balance. He threw himself into a defensive position. "Who are you?" His voice was calm and collective as always but deep down even he felt a tendril of fear creeping up his processors.

The enigma glared down at him. The look of confusion crossed his face plates for a moment. Then something changed in his optics. His voice then spoke out calm and controlled, though irritated.

"The question is not who. The question is _what_! _Not who!_ Not that I would expect the likes of you to understand." The giant then stooped, raising his claws. His voice pitched out shrilly. "But I will make you understand!"

"Less talk, more fight." Ironhide remarked dryly. Then before giving his foe a chance to respond he unleashed his cannons. They whirred out sizzling clouds of blue and yellow. The plasma and metal bursts shot forward and into their target. Bracing for the attack the transformer drew his arm up as a shield but did little else to avoid the blasts. They sunk in solidly, but not solidly enough to seem effective. A low rumble then his claw arched.

"My turn!" He shrieked and threw his arm into the crowd sending Ironhide and two others back. Explosions erupted from his shoulders, showering down drawing up a dusty cloud of red smoke. Fumigating the others down to temporary submission. Dust kicked wildly into the wind. Glaring through it frenzied optics drew upwards to the horizon. Closing in fast the humans finally made a solid pin on their targets.

Shaking off the daze the Autobots readied themselves. Some more surely than others. What they didn't realize however was that the military aircraft quickly closed in on them. Not until it was too late. Large explosive strikes skittered across their backs and launching sand like geysers into the air.

"Ack! Take cover!" Prowl yelled out to snap any of those too stupefied to react into action. Bodies tumbled, sliding and ducking they rolled behind cars and broken buildings for measly protection from the energy enveloping them. Explosions amassed around them propelling vehicles into the air tumbling until crashing into the rest of the chaos. Violent air brushed against them, so cruel that even their metallic features bowed to the force and needed arms to protect their most sensitive structures. Then the energy lowed giving them a moment to regain themselves. The energy and smoke drifted, through the center of it all one Transformer stood in the open. The fragments of deadly energy washed off him but that energy was given little care and worry to.

Overhead the jets banked into evasive measures. The Transformer growled in temptation. His interest latched onto the jets, his own boosters kicked up, brushing up the demolished ground below him. Then he transformed into his massive jet form and launched after them. Explosive plasma rang out, instantly knocking one out of the sky in a blaze of fire.

His departure did not ease the Autobots' problems any. Helicopters were quick to hover overhead. Around the Autobots sharp squawks of metal and plonks of concrete rained around them as the human firepower sprayed bullets indiscriminately. On the terrestrial level, vehicles with mounted gunners raked the areas of special interest. The easiest of targets were the neon green and rich reds that stood out from the haze. Bullets zipped around and in the case of striking weakened red armor, they easily sunk into the more sensitive circuitry. For a rare moment, Ironhide hissed out in pain. Throwing himself back to the other side of the disheveled wall and beyond their line of sight, he took aim with his cannon.

"Ironhide no!" Optimus lunged forward and grabbed Ironhide's cannon pulling his weight against it. "Fall back!" Chill blue optics fixed on his leader's. Then quickly shot away in frustration when he understood the command. He did not like the idea of getting shot at with no option for retaliation. However, he understood the command and he understood the reasoning behind it.

"Alright." Ironhide muttered and looked for the best way out of this situation.

"Autobots! Fall back." Optimus ordered, quickly surveying his surroundings.

Assess the situation. Four soldiers are pinned and need assistance to escape. Tactically, the best way to get them out of danger without harming the humans is to-

Prowl's voice hissed out as something large dropped down on top of him, nearly crushing him. The large Transformer returned. His optics momentarily looked over the police cruiser before setting his optics to more exciting pray. Unleashing both arms as separate weapons he destroyed three infantry vehicles and over turned a fourth. Prowl rolled to his feet, the giant reacted, throwing out a kick sending him back and into the rubble he just created. Switching his cannons to rapid fire, he rolled around the area striking anything that moved. The helicopters retaliated. One helicopter was quickly obliterated. All other human vehicles in turn focused fire. Arcee and Jolt slipped to the side and attacked. The giant snarled and threw back his body in displeasure. He tossed down a smoke cloud to give himself cover then focused on the blue Volt robot. Behind Jolt, Hound warbled out a warning.

"Jolt look out!"

Sideswipe skated forward, heading through the thick smog. His ocular lenses couldn't see anything, and the smoke had other sensor blinding capabilities as well. He didn't see the hit that threw him back out of the cloud. His back scraped the gravel as he craunched to a stop. Then quickly he rolled away from a helicopter's frantic unleashing.

From within the cloud, Hound's voice howled out then went silent. Then bursting out from the cloud, the Transformer emerged, parts shifted quickly and another explosion of power he made a hasty retreat. His force caused the cloud to billow wildly. Optimus reached up, unleashing his rifle at the fleeing jet. In turn, a plasma fireball returned, knocking Optimus down to take cover. Out of the corner of his optic, he caught something blue trapped beneath the jet's transformation. Before he could formulate what, Sideswipe's voice broke his concentration.

"Ironhide!" Below the smoke he saw his down mentor. Four sets of optics from four individuals glinted in horror. Sideswipe was the first to react. Rolling over to his mentor he knelt down. Doing so however, made him the newest open target. Before he could even tell if Ironhide was alive or not, he rolled back to his feet wheels as bullets tore up the area around him. Sizing up the remaining foes he rushed towards them. Optimus redirected his course, away from assisting Ironhide to instead intercept the Autobot going rogue.

Ignoring the sharp pains of the bullets tearing into his body, Sideswipe drew his sword up, ready to strike down the closest mark when Optimus's body rolled into him, knocking him down.

"Optimus!" With a bewildering howl. Then he snapped. "They are attacking us!"

"I understand, but we forfeited our right to defend ourselves the moment we interloped on this planet!" Optimus snapped back. His optics stared down his subordinate. Sideswipe's optics eyed the human soldiers. For a brief moment, they were so startled they didn't take full advantage of the situation. Behind them others didn't want to risk friendly fire on their fellow human beings.

Sideswipe gawked at the predicament. "So they attack us, yet we still protect them!?"

"We don't get to pick and choose who we defend. Now go." Optimus sternly ordered. Sideswipe eyed Optimus with an air of defiance. "Now!" Optimus then roared. Sideswipe wasn't going to buck farther. He wasn't about to keep his frustration bottled up either. With a cuss of Cybertronian words, his sword slashed down severing the engine block and making the humans in and around the vehicle cower back. Before the humans could orientate themselves he returned to the others. They managed to pulled Ironhide's body into the smoke screen for cover. Optimus made his way back to his friend.

"How is he?"

"He's in stasis lock. He'll survive but we need Ratchet!" Arcee informed him.

"I already sent for him." Optimus knelt, "Everyone, I need you to create a diversion while I get him to safety. When I find a location, I will send out the coordinance and we will rendezvous there. Prowl."

"Right."

Then riffling through the rest of his team's energy signatures to determine if anyone else needed assistance, a horrible realization crossed over him. "Where's Hound and Jolt?"

"What? They're-"

A wash of horror. "He must have taken them!" That's what he saw!

Human yells erupted. His other scanners indicated that another wave of jets inbound. He did not like what he was about to order. "We'll deal with this vexing problem later. We need to get out of here. Go!" He picked up Ironhide and ducked farther back into the smoke. He then drifted off hiding his signature and his infrared signature as well as his friend's.

Clicking and clanking, cars emerged bursting through the cloud. "Split up, but keep each other inside your scanners. Do not block you scent from the humans unless absolutely necessary until I say otherwise." Sirens light up and the police cruiser lead the way. They floored it towards the human soldiers. As expected, they opened fire. The flashy sports cars and bikes pulled out into evasive maneuvers. Behind them, the helicopters swerved to follow overhead as well as two of the remaining military vehicles.

They allowed themselves to be pursued for an hour to give the time to Optimus. After that, dampeners went into effect and so did stealth mode. Now they hide inside a large parking lot. Prowl sent out a message to Optimus requesting a status. A detailed package was sent back. While they were busy mulling through the information and their questions an unexpected voice dropped in onto their protected channels.

"I can heaaaaaar you."

It was followed by stunned silence.

The voice continued. "You feel it too don't you. It's here on this planet. I will find it! You wouldn't know where it is would you?"

"Optimus?!"

"Autobots disregard all directions I have given you. Disengage all internal communications at once!"

"What! How did he get onto the Autobot frequency!?"

"This isn't good!"

* * *

The rest of the night was riffled with worry. Hardly anyone could close themselves down for a partial recharge let alone a full one. For Bumblebee, listening to the radio only worsened his mood. All that work that he and Sam went through was completely washed away. Starting since their return, the media spread tales about the defying behavior of the Transformers. Everything was assumed in worst case scenarios of the wrong kind. The media knew there were thirteen transformers. Twelve of them large. Surprise, surprise, the military showed up and counted twelve transformers. They, like everyone else must have assumed the worst. The Autobots were pinned as wholly responsible for creating the destruction outside of Philadelphia. And it didn't help that this damn Decepticon inside him was fidgeting the entire time!

It was a long and restless night. Day couldn't come soon enough. Not that would bring much better news.

"Bumblebee." Prowl startled him. "We need to find Optimus."

_Great._

"You can track can't you." Prowl's disappointment in his voice was too overbearing to ignore. Just like back in the old days. Bumblebee vented in irritation.

#Let's make it happ'n capt'n!#

Big problem however. Bumblebee's main method of tracking on this planet is through the use of the world wide web. Good luck with that! Per Prowl's information pulled up prior to returning to Earth and just the surmountable conclusion that humans were out to get them, he could guarantee that any use of the internet would be a big red beacon for the humans. Yeah, his confidence was real high right now!

Despite that, he roared up his engine. Listening to the radio for clues, the only real data he could surmise was that the area where the attack happened, and Optimus's trail would be the strongest, would be crawling with military. He really didn't want to lead his group around in circles either. He wasn't in a very good mood, and it was soon apparent, not the only one.

Heading down a busy road, the distinctive trill of a helicopter blade in the near distance threw tension up hard. All sensors were flooded with paranoia. The fact that he accidentally inverted his color scheme to keep the bright yellow made him feel like such a fool. Plus their little battle last night had been announced on every single channel from here to Japan. Somebody was bound to recognize them. Not that it mattered!

The distinctive clicking and gliding noises were unmistakable. Then there was the rage.

"Sideswipe! What are you doing!?" Prowl hissed out. Screams erupted, breaks slammed pitching high squeals in the air, even the Autobots reacted in confusion. Bumblebee reversed back, cruising his back end over a sidewalk. To the left of him three people dropped to their knees in terror hiding behind a bench. The people to his right began running away from the situation as fast as they could. Still on the road, Arcee and Chromia swiveled around facing the wrong way down the street. Straight across from Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap backed up over the median in the road blocking the cars going the other direction. They stalled, and many fled their vehicles completely. To his left, the police cruiser was doing as he's supposed to and in the center stood Sideswipe.

In his bipedal form. Au naturalle.

Sideswipe's began pacing in the middle of a _busy_ intersection. "Why are we doing this!?"

"Sideswipe what the _slag _are you doing!?" Chromia hissed out.

"What I'm doing? This is ludicrous!"

"Sideswipe, transform to your alt mode now!"

"What's wrong Prowl!?" Sideswipe snapped in irritation. "You worried that the humans might find us this way!?" There was no way a cluster of cars grouped together that looked like target practice dummies didn't already draw attention. After half a dozen calls already went out to report them, please. "Why are we risking our lives? This is their problem!"

"No Sideswipe, this is our problem!"

"The slag it is!" A fist came down and hit the hood of the police cruiser, entirely out of frustration and not with intention to harm. However, it was enough to provoke Prowl to transform.

"Your insubordination will not be tolerated!" Prowl yelled stepping into Sideswipe's face. Sideswipe scoffed and paced away with frantic rage. His entire body was just bursting with anger.

"Ah hell no! This ain't good. Ain't good at all!" Skids nervously muttered.

"Man we'z so busted!" Mudflap stated. The ticking of helicopter blades drew closer.

"After everything we've done for them, this is how they repay us! They hunt us down like animals!?"

"Sideswipe! Stop this!" Prowl tried to neutralize his tone.

"Aw man, somebodies gonna die, it ain't gonna be us right!? I hate when this happens. Please tell me they ain't gonna take it out on us!" Wheelie dipped back and forth hiding behind Bumblebee's seats. If Bumblebee wasn't so shocked by this random raging explosion, he would have been annoyed at the constant movement. As is, Wheelie was barely even existent in his mind's eye.

"You need to calm down!" Arcee transformed. Everyone else still in their vehicle form outside of Chromia were too horrified and oblivious as to what they should even do.

"Don't tell me to calm down! The humans are attacking us! We did not spend the last two years giving NEST weapons just so they can use them against us!"

"NEST wouldn't do this to us!" Chromia defended.

"Then where are they!? Where are they when we need them covering our backs!? They're nowhere to be found!"

#Politics as usual.# Bumblebee tried to state matter of factly, though nervious.

"Politics?" Sideswipe questioned in disbelief, then in rage, "Politics!" Enough rage that Bumblebee backed up farther and up onto the grassy embankment as Sideswipe rolled up towards him. To his left the woman let out a sharp scream of horror. Wheelie became even more frantic. A silvery digit pointed down at the woman. "It's_ politics _to _not_ protect their civilians!? We are not the enemy!" Bumblebee's voice box warbled out just in surprise. Inside his cab, Wheelie was dashing back and forth between the cab in panic. "What is wrong with these people!? Peoples lives are in danger! And where the _slag _is Ratchet!?" Sideswipe stiffened up again, hissing his question to Prowl.

"Sideswipe, This isn't the time for this!" Prowl dodged his optics towards the sky. Nervousness notched another degree as a herd of choppers floated their way. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the vehicles followed.

"We have to go-" Arcee started

"-they're coming." Chromia finished. Anyone who had optics present looked skyward to the hovering helecopters.

"So what? They won't fire at us now. If they really do care about their civilians!" Sideswipe growled with sneer.

"You want to chance it!?" Prowl hissed.

"Sides! You need to calm down."Chromia demanded.

"Sideswipe please." Arcee rolled up and grasped his arm. Defeated, he glanced around and vented. The fire slowly drained from his optics. He looked back to Arcee.

"Arcee, I ripped his spark out!"

"I know."

"He is picking us off!"

"We know." Chromia added.

Prowl walked up behind him. Like usual he was at a loss for words, or really understanding Sideswipes reasoning for that matter. He did understand one thing though. They needed Optimus. They needed him badly. "We need to find Optimus!"

With the explosive rage dwindling, Sideswipe solemnly nodded. Following Prowl's lead, he transformed down into his alt form. Rolling over the median Prowl, Sideswipe, Chromia and Arcee went back towards the direction they came. They worked their way though the traffic who were easily allowing them by.

The event ended in stunned silence. For a moment Bumblebee hung back still alarmed by the sudden outburst. The people cast a weary glance over to Bumblebee. They had no idea he was returning the stare.

"Wait? That's it? I thought one of em was going to be fragged for sure!" Wheelie braced himself over the dash and the door, craning his neck to watch the Alt modes drive away.

Bumblebee pierced out what sounded like an audible sigh. He quietly rolled forward to follow behind Arcee. Skids and Mudflap had yet to fully compose themselves. Around them people idly watched the vehicles drive away, their shock yet to dissipate as well.

Slowly gaining speed and clearing out of the cramped area of road, Wheelie flung his body from the passenger seat to the back to look out the back window.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Where the hell are they going?" Wheelie muttered loudly as he was stared out the window. _What?_! Readdressing his sensors, Bee slammed on the breaks which caused another piercing squeal. Spinning his tires, his engine vamped as he cruised over the clearest path. He floored it and raced up to the twins who were fleeing off in the opposite direction. Zooming up past them he swung around to intercept Mudflap who was in the lead.

#The hell you doin!?# A burly woman's voice called out in alarm.

Skids swerved around his brother and around Bumblebee. Bumblebee rolled back in surprise. Mudflap cranked his wheel and rolled by the scout as well, doing his best to ignore him.

Bumblebee sat in stunned silence. Like he needed anything more to come crashing down around him. Tires kicked pseudo rubber into the air, his engine forced even more power into his systems. He was frightening people even more but that wasn't as near as important as this. He roared past the twins once again, spinning; wheels screeching to cut them off once again!

"Stop! Right where you are!"

They didn't stop.

"Shyt, we ain't got no way to kill this thing-"

"En stick up his shaft iz'a tickin time bomb!"

"We gotta get help an we ain't gonna get it from that guy!" A jet of infrared light pointed to the distance where a vehicle with an external gun mount was heading their way.

Bumblebee physically dropped back into his tires. This day couldn't possibly be getting any worse. He looked for the other half of his fractured team. Up at a distance, they watched them back, but the mounting danger they couldn't wait for ever. His engine revved in hostility. He couldn't leave the twins to their own device. He sent out a signal to the others, then once again, revamped his energy to his tires. Once again he raced to in front of the twins, however this time he didn't turn to face them.

#Move Move Move!#


	23. Terrible Twos

_Okay, sorry about the itunes comment last time. I was just angry :(. Many things were to blame. Mainly me for probably having so many things going on at once. I do that, it's just that it rarely ever causes problems._

_Anyways, per my comments that I had intended in putting in last week. (and then forgot, and then remembered and then forgot. And probably still forgot.) My bad that I did at school was that I kindof, sortof, accidentally, purposely didn't show up at my Public Speaking class one day._

_The day I was supposed to give a speech.  
_

_Yeah._

_Turns out, so did EVERYBODY outside of four people who were supposed to give a speech and two of them weren't prepared. Opps. Well I did end up giving my speech at a later point in time and I think I did fairly well. Everyone else were probably more comfortable than I was, but they read off of the note cards, and I didn't. Hopefully that will salvage my grade a wee bit._

_Yay, chapter on time for once! I hope my commenter didn't all die on me. :\_

* * *

**Ch 23**

**Tip Toe**

He was out of his area of expertise. He was used to either taking orders from Optimus's command or performing his objectives solo. This was neither case.

#This is great. Just perfect!# Bumblebee's radio screamed at the twins. Oh, they were so lucky he couldn't talk! So lucky! If only he had his voice! He had so much bottled inside of him and he just wanted to unleash it and the twins seemed perfectly deserving. They had to be the biggest pain in his tailpipe he has ever had the misfortune of knowing! Okay maybe not more so than any Decepticon. Speaking of which-

Wheelie was still jumping around all over the place inside his cab. While briefly pausing over the dashboard to watch the twins race ahead, Bumblebee hit a pothole causing the small bot to slip. To catch himself he grabbed the wheel which inadvertently caused Bumblebee to swerve over the center line and nearly smack some poor hapless vehicle. With a grunt Bumblebee caught himself.

Okay, twins, second biggest pain.

Although considering, the Decepticon at least seemed to be able to listen. Oddly enough reminding Bumblebee every five minutes that they should be going back to the big boss. Bumblebee couldn't agree more. They should be regrouping with Optimus! Not breaking rank like this. And for what!? To chicken out! Like any one else was enjoying this! Yeah, no, it's _fun_ to stare death in the face like this! Expecially when it's dead and it's not but should be! But that doesn't give them the option to just turn tail and run.

Bumblebee comprised yet another message to the twins with his internal communication lingual ordering them to turn back now!

"Hey, whazn't we spose to not use that!" Skids rebounded obviously getting sick of the syntax spamming. It infuriated Bumblebee further. He didn't have time for this! Because the third biggest pain, helicopters, had been on their trail for a while now. He had no idea what to do. Well stand corrected, he knew what to do. He just wasn't sure if the twins did and they weren't tagging along like last time, they were outright keeping themselves from his reach. Now he knew why Ironhide complained about them non stop in the past. Then there were the humans that either slowed or swerved chaotically around them. He didn't like having so many random factors involved.

On his radio he dialed over to the news stations. Hopefully his allies were having a better job eluding their pursuers than he was. Nothing would say. They were being mum on the subject. He couldn't find much outside of the prevalent discussions about the Transformers in general. Surprisingly, he was able to catch some slightly better news. Ratchet made landfall early this morning. He was sure that's where the others went since they lost their scout. Ratchet would probably be given the allowance to know Optimus's location for the sake of Ironhide despite the given threat. But Bumblebee wasn't heading towards Ratchet's landfall sight, he was heading away from it! All because somebody needed to baby sit these two!

#Where are you going?#

The two cars ahead of them didn't answer his question, they instead started squabbling about irrelevant information and playing bumper cars amongst each other.

"Hey! Stupid Autobots! You're gonna get us killed!" Wheelie shouted at the front window. He then plopped down into Bee's drivers seat. "And what's up with you? Why are you sticking your neck out for these guys!?" Bumblebee didn't even bother to dig through his files to answer him. He wasn't sure if he should pity or be annoyed at Wheelie's complete lack of the concept of _watching out for others_. Then again, he was among Decepticons for a while. On second thought he radio warbled a message together.

#That's part of my job subscription.##When you find yourself alone down a deep, dark alley-# #You'll thank me later.#

Wheelie seemed to regard him for a moment. Then startled when a police siren shrilled out from nearby. His first instinct was to duck and cover suspecting that Barricade had come for him. To punish and to enslave, or something like that. He was all too familiar with that. Wheelie's digits clasped the edge of Bee's seat. Looking up out of the window his vantage point revealed nothing more than blue sky. Bumblebee groaned at this new turn of events.

And he thought this day couldn't get any worse!

Soon the number of police cars went up from one, to two, then to five. Not that they were any threat to him. The only thing they effectively did was clear out the road ahead of them.

Three dog night blasted out on Bumblebee's radio. #Mama told me not to come. Mama told me not to come. That ain't the way to have fun, no. Nuh uh!# With the other cars clearing to the sides giving him some leeway, Bumblebee strolled up closer to the twins. #I hate ye'guys.#

"Man! Why all the hate?" Mudflap remarked back.

#May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention please?# He floored his speed to get ahead as he sensed the helicopters close in on them.

Then from the closest helicopter a stream of liquid shot out nailing Mudflap's back end. Yelping he sped forward. "Shyt that's cold!" His brother regarded the frozen pool etching it's way into Mudflap's armor. The helicopters were equipped with the cryo weapons. Bumblebee was all too familiar with those.

"Iah'ight, yez got our attention!" Skids slipped behind Bumblebee.

#Let's go!# Bumblebee poured in more speed. Since the humans already knew where they were, it wouldn't hurt to google map his way out of this mess. He drove down an off ramp and towards a location to give him some cover.

Racing through the busy roads playing chase to both police cars and helicopters, Bumblebee hurled through the cyber world trying to find an escape. It wouldn't be an easy task by road with helicopters over head but he'd have to loose them somehow.

Slipping under a tunnel like bridge the helicopters fell back. Dodging and weaving through the slower moving traffic the Autobots worked towards the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Then before reaching the exit a helicopter lowered down before them, something dropped down to their level, a blast of light washed over them momentarily blinding their ocular vision. Blind chaos erupted. A metal body crashed into Bee causing him to inadvertently slam on his breaks. His body skidded sideways. More crumpling metal followed. Bumblebee switched to his other senses to gather his wits about him. Surprising, damage was minimal. Skids was the one who crashed into him. Most other vehicles hung back as the Autobot's weaved and dodged between them. It did not mean that all other passerby didn't get caught up in the ploy. Then another spray of liquid cryo rained down at them. Bumblebee floored it to avoid getting hit with the stream. Screeching tires he glanced back. Getting hit with the brunt of the freezy blast Skids transformed into his natural form and flailed about. Bumblebee transformed as well running back he grabbed Skids arm and forced him to move as the three helicopters threatened them. Pushing him forward he returned back to where he spat Wheelie out. The little bot hopelessly rolled out of the way of an oncoming vehicle who managed to flee the robotic pile up. Bumblebee ran up to grab him. Behind him Mudflap yelped as a harpoon wrapped around his arm. The helicopter pulled back, forcing him to move along with his tethered arm. Bumblebee swore under his vents, but nothing short of a raspy bark could be formulated. Mudflap was then pulled off the busy highway and down a ramp. A car slammed on his breaks to avoid the robot but before smacking him, Mudflap was tore forward once again over the concrete barrier and into a parking lot.

His feet skidded across the concrete when he tried to stop himself. The cable tightened and whip lashed him forward, crashing him into a parked car before he succumbed to the lead again. Bumblebee threw Wheelie onto his shoulder and followed after him. The other two helicopters swiveled around to focus exclusively on Mudflap. Another harpoon barreled out aiming for Mudflap's free hand. Bumblebee intercepted allowing the spiked grappling hook to pierce his armor and wrap their coils around his guard. A rasp and a quick glance at his surroundings he grabbed Mudflap.

#Why is it whenever I get stuck with you, there's always trouble?#

"Jus lucky I guess."

Before the slack was lost, Bumblebee pulled them back towards a large lamp post. Just as they reached the concrete tower the tension tightened once again. Bumblebee slapped his hand onto the pole digging his digits in to hold himself in place as the helicopters pulled back hard. He hissed out against the strain re-breaking the area where it was reattached not weeks before. Skids raced up and grabbed Bumblebee's arm and pulled him back. Mudflap hovered close to the thick pole.

"Uh," Mudflap thought for a moment before wrapping his way around the pole. Bumblebee glanced at him to see what he was up to. His optics flashed for a moment when he realized what. Glancing once more at the helicopter he then followed Mudflap's lead. He wrapped around the pole twice then slipped under Mudflap's arm. Skids then reached over and help Mudflap pull the harpoon out of his armor and latched it to the wound cables. Being less discrete Bee unraveled his cannon and blasted the coil off his arm. He'd worry about the embedded object later. Then he leveled his cannon on the remaining helicopter that wasn't tied up. It hovered for a moment.

#-just turn around now; 'cause you're not welcome anymore; weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye; you think I'd crumble; you think I'd lay down and die.-#

The helicopter finished contemplating it's options and quickly hovered out of sight.

#-Oh no, not I; I will survive#

The two remaining helicopters bounced about like a pair of balloons helplessly tied in the wind. Mudflap mumbled some words of choice at them.

Then, bouncing down to the nearby tracks, they fled.

They passed fifteen miles by rail before Bumblebee could figure out what the twins were up to.

#You think that's a good idea?# His radio mumbled out. Not really the tone he wanted. It sounded earnest, which is not what he felt. He wanted to go more with snarky sarcasm. The twins were heading back towards the college he was sure of it. The place would surely be swarming with hazards.

"What else we gonna do? Ain't got no other allies on this rock!"

"Allies?" Wheelie mumbled to himself. Then became frantic with animation. "Mikaela!" Once again, he was bouncing all over the inside of Bumblebee's cab.

_Great._ Now it was for sure three against one. For now he'd just have to play along and just keep an eye out. Then another thought. He was mute! That would mean the only ones to be their voice and defend them against returning here against human wishes were -

_Oh great!_

Skids, Mudflap or Wheelie.

And this is how days go from worse to slag.

* * *

_I meant this to be a longer chapter but ending it on that is just too funny! _

_I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor _

_Um other stuff. Some made up, others not. _


	24. Falling Down

*Despite my feelings for the Twins . .. I was wholly amused by writing up this chapter. When they aren't actually front and center the entire time and are off to the side throwing in occasional comedy like they're supposed to, that's when they're okay in my book. TAKE NOTES BAY!

* * *

**Ch 24**

**Falling down****  
**

The first sensory to return was audio. He was only aware of it because he heard noises. Soft and mumbling, too low to be anything he outright recognized. Slowly more sensory information came back online to diagnose his self awareness. He was stiff, cold and groggy. There were also a bit of soreness to his body. His apertures split open feeding in bright light. Now the soft noises could be recognized. They were whispers. He didn't really care what they were saying and didn't put the focus to listen. Time passed, it could have been seconds, or even minutes. He didn't care to check. Then with even more stiffness than he usually carried himself in, he pulled himself up right. The whispers died to silence the moment he stirred. Another moment to compose himself. He was coming out of a stasis lock. His sensors continued to be bedazzled and it would take even longer for feeling to return to his limbs. Right now he'd have to deal with the cold and stiffness. Glancing around while he waited he noted the bright sunlight streaming in through semi-transparent Plexiglas windows. At a distance he caught a glance of what looked like operational panels. Smaller devices were scattered about but at his level of cognition he didn't recognize what. Taking in the whole of the building he saw that it was a human structure. And honestly it looked well kept and rather new looking. He rose to his feet which caused the whispering voices to yelp out in fear.

Glancing down in confusion he saw what was causing those noises. A reasonably large crowd of humans huddled and cowered away from him. Why they didn't outright flee was apparent by the shimmer of a force field dividing them. He regarded the wall of energy for a moment before glancing down at his unconscious friend. All around the force field locked them in. Light panic rose through his systems. To test his theory he touched the wall of energy. It snapped violently and forced his hand back. It was a cell of some sort. He quickly studied the ceiling to fathom how it was put together. Cybortronian pieces were locked into place and divided out the open room into six cells. Right now three were occupied. Two by humans.

"Hound? Hound wake up!" Jolt spoke in his native language. Staving off his extra energy the shook the unconscious Jeep Wrangler robot. No response. He then checked to make sure he wasn't trying to wake an offline comrade. To his relief he could sense the spark pulsing. Though not as strong as he would have liked. "Come on Hound." Looking his friend over quickly he placed his hands onto his chest plate. Controlled energy slowly built up in his digits and a powerful burst exploded into Hounds body. Just enough to jump start the spark without damaging it, Hound gasped at the sudden arousal. There was some relief to be had by Jolt, that is until the corner of his optics caught movement. In confusion he glanced up and before he could fully register it, he jumped back in surprise. Hovering over them just on the other side of the electric wall, stood the giant.

"I knew you were special. Look at all that energy!" The many red optics gleamed as he looked Jolt over.

Slammed back into the invisible wall the sharp energy cackled and grabbed into Jolt's back burning at him. The shock of getting startled by his captor was more attention grabbing at the moment. He pulled himself away from the burning wall to stand securely.

"What do you want?" Jolt demanded coldly.

The maw of an amused smile flashed over the giant. He simply laughed before turning away. He walked back to what appeared to be his work station leaving behind a perplexed Jolt and a scattering amount of humans. Jolt's optics hardened and drifted towards their movements. All their eyes went to fix on him. Vivid blue optics jumped back to their captor. Now the question was two fold. What did this monster want with him, and what did he want with the humans?

* * *

He strolled through the roads in caution. He honestly couldn't believe how quiet things were so far. The twins were in between being ninjas or James Bond, which really didn't bother him too much as they were at least being quiet. The balloon incident had shaken off the helicopters for now and he kept an advanced alien eye out for police cars. Everything was seemingly going so smoothly right now that just couldn't help but expect a trap. Especially as his wheels touched the parking lot of Sam's college.

The twins obviously had no such concern. They comfortably planted themselves right next to the curb to view the kids going to and fro from the dorms.

"Hey! Lemmie out! Open the door you stupid lug head!" Wheelie whined as he pried at the locked door. Actually digging his claws in enough to hurt.

#Calm down!# Bee hissed and unlocked his door. Now, if there really isn't a trap waiting for them, these three would surely bring trouble. He watched with weary senses as Wheelie ducked around the obstacles and kept to the shadows until he reached the Twins' bumpers. Bee couldn't help but vent out air to try and calm his nervousness. He drove forward to find an inconspicuous parking spot.

The cars sat in silence.

"Man! Ole bristle head ain't answering his phone."

"Wait! You mean to tell me we that drove all this way and you ain't even called to see if he was home yet!? Shyt."

"W- How's I spose to know where he is? Ain't like I can use the interwebs and tell his scrawny, pasty ass to get back over here!" Mumbling to himself on this short comings Mudflap threw his door into Skids to vent out his frustration. His brother yelped.

"Hey, we's spose to be incognito here. Donchu go screwing that up!" Skids paused. He cast his view across the campus again, just to check that nobody was onto him yet. Nobody seemed to be. "So whatwe gonna do? Ask somebody?" His brother was silent. So much for his great plan. Great plan. Um plan B? So Skids then yelled out, "Hey! You! Throwback!"

_Thwak! _A car door went flying again. "Me ruin incognito, wha the hell ya call that!?"

"You stupid Autobots! You have any idea what quiet means!? What I wanna know is how you two managed to live this long!" Wheelie stepped away from the arguing brothers, rather not wanting to get caught up in it.

An outright squabble burst out between the three of them, which soon drew a crowd of fifty.

Bumblebee sucked in some dry, cold air; tucked his joints in tighter; locked his doors and wanted to cry.

Not really, but this is exactly what he didn't need on a day like today. He didn't even want to go over there to break it up. Well, as long as they aren't flinging themselves into crowds-

"Nuh you shuddup!"

"Man, you!"

"You!"

"Shuddup both of you!" Wheelie growled. Trying to take matters into his own hands he jumped up on top of the green car. To the humans who were either baffled or disgusted, he called for their attention. "Okay listen up. Can any of you tell me where Mikaela is? You know, human girl, dark hair was on every single one of your tv stations with a robot recently?" Heads shaking and baffled looks throughout the crowd. "Seriously?" Wheelie uttered incredulously.

"Aight, let me try. Lookin for a Leo, he's got chia pet hair, he's kinda like a shorty?"

It was growing more apparent that the baffled looks and head shaking were not because they didn't know who the robots were talking about but rather,

"Are all of you robots this retarded?"

"What? Man that's hurtful!"

"Yeah! Why would you say someting like that?"

Yep, the twins and Wheelie were doing about as good diplomatically as Bee had expected. It didn't take long for someone with standing of the school to come out and tell the cars to leave. Better that than be swarmed by helicopters and military any day. And. Amazingly, this really started to not feel like a trap anymore. Then from the dorm room where Leo and Sam were housed, Fasbinder and Sharkatron came barreling out towards them. Their arrival probably meant the entire campus knew they were there. If the entire campus knew where they were so did every body else at this point.

"Finally, someone who might actually tell us what's going on!" Wheelie hopped off of Skids and trotted to Leo's friends.

"Hey, it's Wheelie?" Fassbinder yelped to Sharsky then back to the robot. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I came here looking for Mikaela and these guys-"

"She's gone."

"What?" Wheelie snapped.

"Yeah, when Sam split, they arrested Leo and Mikaela. Like, out of spite I think?"

_What? _Bumblebee's engine revved. _When Sam split?_ This was news enough to break his cover and close in on the conversation.

"They arrested Mikaela?!"

The woman waving off the robots went ignored by Wheelie, Fasbinder and Sharksy. The twins brilliantly resorted to sassing her back.

"Yeah, I don't know who they were though. They looked like total government conspiracy! Black cars, tinted windows. They even had the whole men in black thing going on!"

"What-" The word unfortunately sounded like a bark. He discontinued trying to use his voice immediately, but not after catching everyone's attention to the new contender. Quickly Bumblebee tried to pull some audio to ask his question. He pulled a clip out of the movie Ghost. #-go away Sam? 'Cause you know what, I got work to do.# The comment was lost on them. Quickly patching his radio together Bee presented another hashed clip. #-Sam?# #Which way'd he go!?#

"I don't know. I think Simmons, he took him."

Bee's engine warbled sounding not unlike an electric starter.

"What are you guys doing on this planet anyways? You're not spose to be here!" Another boy interrupted, trying to give the campus official some aid.

Bumblebee started cycling through his clips for a reasonable response, but was distracted by what was on the radio now. He played it. #We have video confirmation that not twenty miles from Mission City one of the robots had been spotted -# Then recalled just who exactly he was dealing with.

"Mission City? Nao where have I heard that name befo?"

"Killed Megatron there, how many times we gottze tell you this?" Skids hissed at his brother.

_Trying to remain professional! _#The question is why.#

"Yeah well Megatron ain't dead. What's this mofo's interest about some washed out old city anyways?"

_Yeah. No good. _There wasn't even a point of bringing it up!

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" A girl hissed with a tempered impatience. There must be a reason why these psycho-babbling robots showed up at her school.

"Shyt. Ole elephantine ain't as dead as he should be, an we ain't bringing him down, but ole boy scout right here, he wantsta drag our sorry ass all over the country side teh try and kill em."

"Suicide mission!"

There was a long stretch of earnestly baffled expressions. Finally one person sifted through Mudflap's words.

"Wait? You mean that thing that attacked the bridge is still alive?"

"Bingo, we have'a winner."

"Oh boy, I don't think alive is the right word for that one." Wheelie whistled.

"He's like a zombie."

"Zombified."

"Okay? Why us? Why'd you come here to us. Like Mission City is across the country!"

Short answer, because _he_ can fly! And we need help. Long answer, sifting through a million radio clips to try and piece together bits and pieces to try and explain things, kind of, and never really with the results intended. #-and we're not going to take it! We are going to hunt them down! We will not rest until these robots are piles of scrap metal! W-# He only answered half of her question.

Kind of. That was supposed to be the 'we need help' bit.

_Yeah, no._ Didn't happen.

"Gawd don't any of you speak normally!?"

"Hey! Lay off him, he's a mute. Don't get all pissy at him just cause he can't talk." Wheelie said words that make Bee go _what_?

"And What'sit matter what we talk like anyhow?"

The frustrated girl shuttered up her irritation in a constricted manor, seemingly cursing at the sky. Another five individuals looked like they were about ready to tell the robots off yet again.

"Ai'ght, you want the skinny, heer'it iz." A dramatic pause to get everyone's attention first. "We iz'getting our ass kicked!"

"Creamed man."

Before anyone could agree and be happy with mankind's progress, Mudflap continued.

"Boy scout here an the rest of em are all masochists and don't care no-how regardless how much they get their afts dented in. They still gonna try and stop this thing. Nao my brother and I, we aint that solderly and we aint got that good a' people skills, but I think we can safely speak for all'a em, that when I say without you guyiez help, we ain't gonna bring this thing down."

"An you aint helping us, you's hurtin us! You gottus on the run like we's on jail break or sump'in."

"You gotta use that site, TRED or something and spread the word!"

There was a moment of silence among the crowd.

"Wow." Wheelie muttered breaking it. "That was' that was really something. Almost diplomatic even." Wheelie folded up against Bumblebee's tire, looking rather disinterested at any farther attempts by the twins for help.

"This ain't funny Wheelie. We ain't got too long before big ole bad and ugly does us all in!"

"An we's got Sideswipes goin all bat shit crazy on us!"

"Yeah."

"Old Ironhide's down for the count."

"Jolt an Hound's been nabbed. Shyt, this ain't going good at all!"

"I don't understand. You're saying that you guys came back because this thing is still out there, and is going to kill us all?"

"Yeh, that's exactly what we sayin."

"And nobody bothered to say anything?!"

"That's cuz nobody knows! An how'z we spose to get the word out? We're wanted criminals."

"Thas why we came here, figured Leo could help us out!"

"Well, yeah but, Leo's gone! And they took all of our computers." Sharsky shook his head.

"Yeah but you guys still have a voice! We don't."

The crowd was surprisingly silent as they mulled over their words.

"Please." Mudflap sounded sincerely earnest.

"What are you guys going to do now."

"Gonna follow our fearless leader thas what." Mudflap opened his door lightly tapping it into Bumblebee actually causing him to startle.

Surprised, Bumblebee regarded the three carefully. All their senses were on him, and they seemed to be sincere. _Finally!_

"Um." Somebody from the crowd mumbled out looking over the different colored cars, especially the black one that used to be yellow. "It looks like, you guys can change your appearance to anything, right?"

"Yeah." Wheelie rolled out the word cautiously glancing at Bumblebee. "Kind of."

"Um. Kay, by the stuff that I've been reading about you guys, if it's true then, you're probably not gonna like this. But when they took the two people your looking for, I swear there was a cop car following them."

Wheelie froze.

"On the side of it, I mean, it was kind of freaky. It said something like 'to enslave and punish."

"What?" Wheelie whispered hoarsely. Horror washed over both him and Bumblebee.

* * *

_Everyone should know by now, it's standard procedure for me to leave the chapter on a cliffy. XP_

_At any rate. I hope everyone still enjoys the story. I haven't really gotten the chance to back-read some of the few chapters ago in relation to the story as a whole. I know that the comments have dropped from 4 to 6 per chapter to nearly nil and I don't know if that's because of something I wrote in. . or if just life in general getting in everyone's way. I guess I'm slightly on edge because as I was going through the rebound of loosing my job, going back to school and going through school, my interest in writing completely plummeted to the bottomless pits of Hades to never be seen again. Or so it seemed. It's actually a good thing that I didn't get so many comments as of late because I realize that I was focusing so much on them rather than being true to my story. I'm sure that has affected my writing and worsened with my waning interest because life's little pitfalls. Some of the story does go dark. I did go into this story to view the side of war Bay so conveniently left out of the movies. I just fear that it went too dark for a while. So. . .here's to the brighter side?_

_Anyway, I refuse to have another unfinished story stagnate ffn and now I'm ready to tackle this again but this time, on my own accord._

_That is all._

_:P_

_Sorry for being mopey._


	25. Vexing

_Rawr. Sorry these next chapters are taking forever. I have books upon books of notes to sift through to make sure I don't miss anything or put anything out of order. *sigh* Anyways, as you may have noticed, lots of things are going on at once. If I didn't get to some mystery as of late, it may come at later chapters. Bee patient!_

_

* * *

  
_

**Ch 25**

**Vexing****  
**

An unfathomably, uncomfortable sting pierced his eyes. A small flashlight lit up the pupils causing them to shrink away from the pain. First eye, the dark brown iris glowed chestnut as the crude light struck it, then the other. Sam twisted away from Simmons's prying.

His eyes squinted trying to block out the floating light in his retinas. _Throb! _His head ached. His sinuses felt dried and cracked leaving an uncomfortably harsh feeling in the back of his- throat? Sinuses? Somewhere, in, there. In his head. He tried to swallow it down and could taste blood. Sam tried to pry his eyes open, and struggled against his wincing at the slightest bit of light pouring in.

"Oh good." Simmons pulled away. "Kid seems fine. Yeah. Good!" He stood, forcing his chair back, ruffling the legs against the cheap carpet. The only thing Sam could muster for vision was the yellowed light of his surroundings. He then realized there was a sharp sting in his neck. He brought his hand up to brush the wound, then squinted as he checked his hand for any signs of blood.

"What?" Sam tried to stand but his mind was too groggy to command.

Simmons, hovered over by the shrouded window, keenly studied him.

"Still groggy huh?" Black eyes studied Sam for a lingering moment, then shifted to the window, lifting the yellow curtain with a finger he peered outside. Now that Sam could finally keep his eyes open longer than a milisecond, he gazed around the room. And was stunned to see the mess he made. Obviously his mess, because who else would decorate the ugly, yellow walls with strange scribblings of alien symbols. Black marker and blue pen this time.

Sam silently and with dire confusion watched Simmons move to the phone. The man picked it up, brought the receiver to his ear and rapped the hook button several times. When he was satisfied enough, he hung up the phone then wiggled the cord. After that he rolled back to face the TV and clicked it on for good measure. He then reached down and collected a stack of newspapers and papers. He paused when he pulled out a yellow notepad. Simmons eyes moved up and settled on Sam. The papers dropped down again.

"So," Sam trailed the word, "what's going on now?"

Simmons responded, by not responding. Rather he sipped his cheap coffee out of the Styrofoam cup. Sam drew his face in irritation and jumped to his feet to approach Simmons, however, at his first step he found himself sucking up brown carpet.

"Whoa kid!" Simmons reached out to help him up. "Take it easy, eh?" Simmons helped him back up to the bed.

"What the? How did I get here! Where am I?" Sam pulled away from Simmons.

"You, don't remember?"

"No, I don't remember." Sam then winced again. When he twisted his head to shake it, the slightest movement caused his neck muscles to burn. Sam brought his fingers up to test his neck once again. Nothing he could really discern from touch alone. "What happened to my neck!?" He then tried to rub away the soreness.

"Horse tranquilizer." Simmons reported matter of factly.

"Horse tranquilizer?" Sam gawked. But, wouldn't that- kill a human?! "You stuck me! With horse tranquilizer?!"

"You don't remember a thing. Do ya?" Simmons muttered and took another sip of his coffee. All so nonchalantly too. His head nodded to in thought. The kid seems normal now. Much better than last night. Speaking of which. "Yeah. Housekeeping's gonna be thrilled with us!"

Housekeeping? Sam realized, the room was, a motel.

_Wait._

Simmons and Sam.

One hotel room.

"Wait, wait wait! Sleeping, sleeping here? You and me? In the same room?!"

"Well somebody needed to keep an eye on things."

"No, no no no. That's just, that's just all kinds of levels of wrong."

"What?" Simmons sharply squawked.

Sam pulled his way to his feet. This time, he could manage it. A little wobbly, but manageable. "Simmons you have like no problems stripping in public! There- I don't think my fragile mind can handle what you do behind closed doors!" Sam surveyed the room. "I am so glad I have no recollection of last night. Wait, no I'm not! You are like the creepiest-"

"Hey, hey hey! I'll have you know, it was you who started that trend!"

"What? What trend?! There is no trend!"

"No? The one that you and your little criminal girlfriend started. Remember?"

Sam turned slowly in his spot. As quickly as his mind could fathom, he pinned that one of the beds lacked all of the pillows and blankets. The other had it's bedding skewed across the room. Sam popped open the door and flicked the switch on to the bathroom. The only room which was free from the effects of permanent marker.

Weird, he found the missing blanket and pillows.

In the bathtub.

Sam glanced a baffled and horrified look towards Simmons. "What does this have to do with Mikaela?"

"You know! When you're big robot friends and the lubricator, when they showed up! The federal offense you never got charged with!"

"What?" Sam then hissed out.

"Oh, boy, I can't believe this." Simmons growled to himself. "Mikaela's father! The criminal?" Simmons eyed Sam carefully.

Now Sam totally lost whatever point Simmons was trying to make. "What does Mikaela's dad have to do with anything?!"

Simmons took a moment then shrugged in defeat. Mumbling. "Criminal."

Sam turned to him in a confrontational manner, even if he had no idea what Simmons was even going on about! "Which he's out now! By the way, and is doing well. Working and not, you know, stealing stuff. Like cars."

Simmons glared at Sam. "Good!"

"Yeah." Sam nodded, a little too baffled as to what to say next. Sam was officially creeped out now. Simmons looked like he shared the sentiment. Either that, or by the way Simmons was looking at him, he grew another head. Then without looking Sam pointed to the open door. "Why are there pillows in the bath tub?"

Simmons responded again, by sipping his coffee. Sam gave a blank stare, a roll of his eyes, and a glare off of defeat.

"You seriously don't remember, anything?"

"No!" Sam snapped.

"Okay." Simmons then turned his attention to the TV. Doing an effective job at ignoring the kid.

Sam shook his head and reached over to look through the newspapers Simmons had collected. Then Sam stumbled upon the notebook. He winced as he looked over the first page. A very detailed diagram of something was scribbled across it. In fact, the doodles looked so detailed and so precise that they looked like they were drawn up on a computer. But they weren't. Black marker and blue pen. He slowly flipped through the pages. Page after page had doodles.

"Good, he left. I was really worried we weren't going to make our flight on time." Simmons remarked as he watched the blue news bar float white writing across the bottom.

Sam slouched into the chair busy staring at the doodles. "I was, fixing something." Sam muttered quietly. Simmons froze then slowly turned his attention back at the kid.

"Fix something?"

"Yeah, fix it, fix something, fix- in my head."

"Re'he'hilly? What could _ever _be wrong with your head?"

"What?" Sam's eyes narrowed. Then it clicked. "You, you think I'm crazy." Sam hissed in accusatory.

"Crazy? What? No! No. Yes. Maybe. At least enough that I was a little paranoid about sleeping here last night." Well, that at least explained the pillows in the bath tub.

They both stared at each other for a long, paranoid minute.

"Well now that you're not up to your, usual psychotic self, we have a plane to catch."

"A plane? I just got off a plane."

"Yeah, well, now, you're getting back on one." Simmons handed over a ticket. "Now that big, bad and gruesome went on his merry little way, so can we. We only have an hour, so get crackin!"

Sam studied the ticket. The departure was from Mission City to Springfield, Missouri.

"Okay, Missouri. What are we doing in Missouri?"

"Gonna find your friend."

* * *

"Okay Hound. How do we get out of here?" For the thousandth time, Jolt stared at the shimmering non-existent walls. He came up to the same conclusion he did a thousand times before. He had no idea how to get out of this.

Behind him Hound settled into his haunches and intently studied the ceiling.

"Hm." Hound thought to himself. His optics carefully following the way the Cybertronian technology interlocked together. It was in fact, Cybertronian. "I recognize this." Hound muttered. For a brief moment, Jolt glanced back at the tracker.  
"Designed to be portable." Hound's digit tapped against the field, drawing a sharp spark of static. "Designed to hurt anyone who touches it. Dare I reckon to say, these are prison cells Decepticons use to house slaves."

"Slaves?"

Hound nodded. "A'yep."

"Terrific." Jolt stiffened.

"Well," Hound curled his finger in thought over his faceplate. "he certianly knew what he was doing when he constructed this. I haven't the slightest idea how to disable it."

"So we're stuck here."

"For now, until the others find us."

Hound's optimism wore a bitter note on Jolt's nerves. "And what's the chances of that?" Jolt asked dryly.

"Oh, they'll come. Never been ones to let me down before. Now, since we're stuck here I am mighty curious about our cellmates. My guess, is they're the same ones that Barricade was reporting to Soundwave."

"You think."

"Reckon I do." Hound looked the humans over. "Though I'd have to say by the looks of it. Some of them aren't fairing too well."

And by the looks of it, they weren't. Both their mental and physical state looked tapped. The occupants to the cell on the right seemed to fair a little better. They were given the smallest of luxury of having access to a small room. Most likely, a bathroom. The group stuck in the center seemed far worse off.

"Yeah, it looks like they are barely holding on by the skin of their teeth." Jolt commented while quietly kneeling down to get a better look at them. Hound gave him a puzzled look.

"I wasn't aware that humans had skin on their teeth."

"What?" Jolt cast him a confused glance. He then shook his head. "Hound, no. It's, It's an expression."

"Oh." Though Hound still didn't really know what that meant.

His blue optics studied over the small beings in the other cells. "Hey!" Jolt tapped his claw on the force field. For the most part, the humans were trying their best to ignore the large cellmates. Nothing like feeling like a fish trapped inside a tiny glass enclosure. Getting tapped at. "Come on. Say something."

There was an uneasy shift in positions, eyes that distrustfully darted to them, and a dreadful silence.

"You don't need to fear us." Hound kept his voice as non-threatening as possible. Easy to do for him to do so, but the humans were skittish. "You can talk to us. We aren't going to hurt you."

Jolt tapped harder on the force field to prove his point. "We can't. Obviously." Hound knelt down next to him. The two darted optics to each other then back to the humans huddled amongst themselves. Any who dared to look at the robots did so with the utmost glare of distrust.

One girl was bold enough to mumble sourly. But she did so into her arms and was too muffled to be understood. Then in an explosive burst of outrage, a human male jumped to his feet and stammered in anger and fear.

"We are not your guinea pigs!"

"Guinea pigs?" Jolt questioned furrowing his faceplates.

"Animal of some sort." Hound answered.

"Right. What does it mean though?" He tapped his chin. "I should know this."

"It means they are weak, pathetic beings." Again with the uncanny stealth of something so large and lumbering, he managed to startle the spark out of the two Autobots with his voice. Hound and Jolt jumped and saw the giant leisurely braced over their pen. "Animals, as they call them. Animals with only one purpose to serve. Rest assured, there is consolation that they will be of greater use in the near future," Optics narrowed on the two Autobots, "as you will."

The wheels clicked inside Jolt's head as he wrapped it around where he heard the usage of guinea pigs before. It was spoken by a soldier, in reference to the Autobots. Over something many government officials wanted to do to them.

"Experiments! You're using them as test subjects!" Jolt jumped to his feet. Electricity arced violently across him as he tried to get into the giant's face the best that he could. Not effective for being nearly a third his size and separated by a wall.

"Yes. Speaking of which-" In mid stride of his sentence the giant twisted hissing out. His claws reached upwards to grab his own head pushing back what seemed like a sudden struck headache. His head still buried he began talking once again, this time back in his native language. "Time ran short. You're impulsiveness! You cost us time!" His voice lowered, more collective now, "You worry for nothing. Nothing can stop me. I have all the time in the world. No! No no no! - What good is this when you don't have the instrument? When we get it back, it would be wise to know how to use it. The tests must go underway!"

"What the slag?" Jolt hissed taking a cautious step back. Behind him the humans had already tried to distance themselves from the giant.

"What's he saying!?" One shouted out.

"Do you want a word for word translation, or just the gist of what he said?" Jolt asked back.

"What he said!"

"I have no idea."

The humans were silent outside of a couple disbelieving scoffs.

"There's some demons runnin' loose inside that boy," Hound shook his head. "Jolt, I didn't wanna say anything before, mostly because I didn't think it was possible." Hound begins. "But uh, I don't think what we're looking at is just-"

"Yes!" The giant shrieked out. "The studies must go on!" The many red optics leveled onto the humans. His voice then returned neutral. "Which one would like to go first?"

He reached his arm forward allowing the energy to wrap around the Cybertronian body. Hound and Jolt tensed back. The giant stepped forward reaching out to the now shrieking humans. He did so, using the Autobot's square. Jolt hissed out, tendrils of lightning arced across the enclosure. Hound buckled downwards to avoid getting caught up in the onslaught. Two sharp, blue spears of metal zipped into the air and crashed down on to the giant. Hookshooting a spear into the behemoth's face Jolt pulled himself upwards. His other whip lighting up ready to strike again. With an irritated growl, the giant cracked his fist down at Jolt. He hit the floor with enough force that the momentum carried him into the cackling force field. With a sharper growl, the monster thrust his claws down at the blue Autobot. For the second time Hound foolishly jumped to Jolt's aid. He intercepted the claw, twisting to try and unleash his own weapons. The grip tightened and Hound was thrust between the giant's palm and the force field. Pinning him.

"Ah, a volunteer? Splendid." Stepping back he dragged Hound out through the force field. Jolt dashed to his feet and followed, only to be reminded that the force field was still in effect. He found that out by running head long into it.

"Hound!"

With the knowledge seemingly of a medic, Hound's chest split open with a flick of a digit. Hound yelped, twisted to get away, but the giant threw his weight into him, again pinning him still, even despite his dire attempts to squirm free. Separated by the force field, Jolt couldn't even do that. He growled and scratched at the field desperately trying to get through. Even more so when he saw claws reach into Hound's chest. Hound shrieked, twitched then went unconscious. Jolt screamed out Hound's name once again. Louder and more frantic this time. He unleashed his furry at the wall. Claws and weapons slashing, taking in as much damage as he was dishing out, but he desperately needed to get past the shield.

Then, before he could expect it. He was grabbed and forced back into the force field. His hands instinctively reached up to grasp the hand that was wrapped around his neck. Splitting open his optics he saw the many blazing optics staring intently. "What are you're specialties?" The giant demanded. Jolt shot his energy into his claws. He was hailed by another slam into the force field. Enough to knock the fight out of the Autobot. Then there was laughter. "All that energy. I love it!" The giant's free hand reached up stroking at Jolt's chest cavity. Jolt seized with violation. Kicking and squirming pathetically he could only endure it. The giant then returned focus on his questions. "Tell me. What are you're specialties?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Jolt screaked now desperately trying to pull the grasp away from his neck.

"Where is my machine!?" The giant's patience was wearing thin. His question went unanswered. Jolt was still too busy scrambling in attempts to get out of this mess. Optics narrowed. "You will tell me." They then blazed hotter, piercing into Jolt's blue optics. Something flooded his mind. Jolt tried to pull away, but with no luck.

"I'm not anything! I'm just a fighter!" Jolt's words lifted from his vocals.

"And the other's?"

Jolt winced, trying to hold his information at bay. It wasn't working. "He's a tracker."

"A tracker? Well, he will be rather useful. I don't have a tracker in my repertoire. Where is the device?"

"I don't know!"

The hand opened; Jolt slid down against the field. On the ground Jolt reached up and cradled his neck. His optics pierced with hatred as he watched the giant turn to leave. Jolt raced to his feet again, trying to strike another attack in before the force field hampered him once again. The giant stepped through and Jolt found his weapons skittering gold light uselessly against the invisible wall. The goliath glanced back, then grabbed Hound and dragged him back to his study. With one swoop of his arm, cleared the table of things he was working on and dropped Hound's body down. His limbs were then clamped down by energy. The giant loomed looking into his chest while thinking about what to do next.

Jolt paced rapidly back in forth inside his enclosure keeping his optics on his friend. He smashed his fist at the wall but all his effort was awarded with was a shimmer and a sharp crackle. He glanced up to see how the cell was reconstructed. His mouth plate gnashed. He then unleashed his arsenal in attempts to bring the walls down without taking himself out in the process. Meanwhile, the giant seemed content to poke and prod inside the Autobot's chest cavity.

When it proved to be ineffective Jolt reduced to pleading. "Stop it! You'll kill him!"

It caused the giant to pause for a moment. "A tracker is too useful. Hm. I need that device. Don't know where it is, have to rebuild it. Hm. That will take time!" He tapped a digit on Hound's armor. Then turned around and found a mangle of wires and devices. Comparing the items he went back to digging around inside Hound's chest once again. Jolt's distraction was short lived.

Another attempt. Another howl and an unleashing of whips. He threw momentum into them, but they bounced uselessly off the walls in the small enclosure. He rolled them and slashed them at the ceiling hoping to break something loose. Gold shimmered. His attacks meant nothing. Desperation, rage, it didn't matter! Anything and everything, he just wanted out! With his last burst of energy his cell lit up in a blaze of blue glory. He went completely ignored by the captor. That creature could be shredding his friend's spark and he was useless to do anything about it!

Minutes went by with a showering of blue lightning. Then with his energy spent, Jolt ceased his fury. His whips scattered uselessly across the floor while he threw one last feeble punch at the wall before succumbing to his exhaustion. Collapsing to his knees, his body billowed steam. Blue optics fixed on the only friend he had in this mess. He wasn't moving. There was no signs of life.

"Hound." Jolt whispered.

Divulged in thought, the vexing creature mumbled to himself once again. "Then, the only solution is to rebuild it." He turned back to the Jeep. "Don't wait up for me, I won't be gone long." The giant stepped through the creature made door, leaving them in silence.

An exit. So close, and yet so very far away. Jolt's body sunk in defeat. Minutes of silence passed and Jolt couldn't bring himself past staring at the exit.

"I'm sorry." A voice startled Jolt to look behind him. A girl stood close to his cell looking at him with her hand draped over her other arm. "We didn't know you were in the same boat as we were."

He stared at her for a moment.

"I didn't know, we were in a boat." A weak voice spoke out. Jolt lifted in some optimism. Hound was still alive!


	26. Doubts

_If anyone ever tells you to "get a life" you be damn sure to tell them that life is overrated!_

* * *

**Ch 26**

**Doubts**

Well, Bee's predicament _was_: what should he do? Locate Optimus, the AllSpark radiation, the Zombie, Sam or the most pressing and outright least soldierly: rescuing Leo and Mikaela.

_Frag it!_ Leo and Mikaela it is.

It most certainly wasn't without Wheelie's jarring persistence. It had taken over ten minutes to get Wheelie to stop screaming at him. At the campus Bumblebee really thought Wheelie was going to attack somebody. Mainly him! He had no idea this little nugget had so much fury in him! Setting that aside, Wheelie's words burned him. _You said nothing would happen to them! _They burned because they were true. He promised! And now, worse of the worse, Barricade got a hold of them.

Barricade was a _huge _problem! He was the Decepticon who _just wouldn't die!_ Bumblebee growled more energy into his engine at his anxiety. He should have finished Barricade off when he had the chance! Which chance? There were so many! And not just him, but NEST even. He should have done it the first time he encountered Barricade over Sam. Bee put him in stasis lock, but at the time he just couldn't bring himself to kill a bot who was unconscious! That certainly had it's consequences. Then Ironhide who would have no problems with the said act failed to do so when he ran him off-road into a bridge column. Of course a battle for mankind was taking place. That had more precedence. By the time they cleaned house, Barricade was already gone. A year and a half later Barricade once again went after Sam. Barricade tried to ransom Sam's life in exchange for an AllSpark shard. It was obvious Barricade knew he wasn't going to get any thing. He didn't care. He just wanted to kill something. It was nothing new. It was the same old song, same old dance. Like a game Bumblebee played with Barricade many times over. What changed was when Sam's friendship and his carefree lifestyle was added to the mix. Then it became something different, not the same old, same old. It became something Bumblebee would give his every last ounce of self sustaining energy to protect. It was that sheer protective force that allowed him to fight back. His mind and focus was elsewhere. It gave Barricade an upper hand, but as soon as Barricade lost it, he fled. It was clear he wasn't going to take any chances. Especially after word went out that once the Autobots teamed up with NEST they began playing for keeps. Barricade had the advantage of knowing this and it allowed him to elude NEST's wrath. Time and time again, he was leaving them all in the dust. Time and time again, he took pot shots at his friends. Barricade always had a special dark place in his blackened spark for Bumblebee. His hatred was intense, which was nearly amusing if Bumblebee didn't start feeling like he was hating the Decepticon even more.

If Primus willing Bumblebee was going to put an end to it once and for all!

He sent an audio clip to the twins and played it over the radio for Wheelie to hear.

#Things could get messy.#

Skids squabbled with curiosity at Bumblebee's cryptic message. Bumblebee figured time would answer his question soon enough. He buzzed up to his target, a State Patrol vehicle that was cruising along the highway at a comfortable ten mile by over the speed limit.

Slipping in tightly behind the patrol car Bee locked onto their computer. Granted he risked getting detected by hopping onto the internet with this method, but not as near as much as him pulling the data from the satellites directly.

He got the name of the deceased. Cranking more internet speed. Location of the 'accident'. Pulling more speed, so slow! The harder he pushed to gain the information, the slower the computer responded. Location of hospitalized victims. Who?

"Something's wrong with the computer?" Bumblebee dipped out in surprise at hearing the voice. He hadn't realized he had peaked his senses surrounding the computer. The voice was from the Trooper in the passenger seat who was trying to access information. Probably on the suspicious black Camaro riding their ass. "It's locked up." The driver's eyes shot to the mirror, watching Bumblebee. The patrol officers looked like a tidal wave was about to crash into them. Without needing the computer, they could figure out who was tailing them.

For whatever reason for not getting the military or mysterious black helicopters breathing down his neck after the college, this would surely bring it on. Maybe it was pointless to piggyback on someone else's network. Then again, this gave him the same access of information that Barricade has.

* * *

The same information that Prowl has.

Before him hovered a large transparent blue orb. It was being projected from his optics. It revolved around slowly and different depths of terrain down to the smallest detail glimmered. Within the spectrum of human sight, it looked unimpressive. Much akin to looking at a outlined version of a soccer ball. However, within the many waves of data, the Autobots saw so much more. As a whole, they saw a very detailed version of Earth segmented out into quadrants. In certain locations, small red dots plotted across the globe. Prowl was determined to find rhyme and reason to their current predicament. For now, he settled on the mysterious Cybertron's movements. Per the information he was able to lift from the police scanners and information and the data he gathered from his short stay at NEST he finally seemed to latch onto something that at least made a little bit of coherent sense.

"Since our presence has become world wide knowledge, I was able to compile data that has recently come to light. Not long after your battle in Egypt there have been multiple sightings in the area. This is after you all left." Prowl tapped his forehead and a segment of data expanded and enlarged to show the still destroyed pyramids. "I have plotted that data out and compiled it with more recent information. Removing what I know to be incidents of our exposure, I've been trying to track down his movements." Dots amplified within the projection. "Egypt, here," the city where Sam's college was located scrolled into view. Optimus's head tilted back wearily. "A few hours ago, Mission City-"

"Is he retracing the history of the AllSpark?" Arcee questioned.

"It looks like it. Although," Optimus tilted his head slightly. "The sightings here are closer to the Hoover Dam than they are to Mission City. It's possible he's trying to track the device that was removed from the building. There is an underground installation that was designed to mask the AllSpark radiation. I'm sure that's where the humans may have moved it to."

"Makes sense." Prowl nodded. "Also, there is one other city that has reported spotting a Transformer as of late." Prowl angled the hologram to show the location. "Three hours after he was spotted in Mission City."

Optimus stepped back grasping his digits around his faceplate in thought.

"As soon as Ironhide is ready, we should investigate the area." Arcee glanced over to Optimus with the suggestion.

"First things first. Where are the others?"

Prowl snorted. "Do you even need to ask?" The hologram returned to the city inside New Jersey.

"No I suppose not."

"They were at the college, now it looks as if they are investigating an automobile accident. I can't say why. What I can say is that the military has backed off, for now." Prowl crossed his arms and closed his optics blinking out the hologram. "I've tried to contact them, however, they won't hail any of my attempts, which makes me inclined to believe that they still consider us the enemy."

"Any idea what their contingent plan may be?"

"None."

"Thank you, Prowl. Keep on task, let me know if anything new comes up." Optimus stepped back. Prowl turned about to say something, but kept mum as he watched Optimus walk away.

Divided by a separate building, Ironhide stiffly stood to greet Optimus as he approached.

"Glad to see you're functioning." Optimus addressed Ironhide and then nodded Ratchet off.

"Hmph. I've been better." Ironhide grumbled shifting his shoulder and testing it's capability. Optimus nodded, blankly. Ironhide perked to the expression.

"Hm. You're in one of those doubting moments again. I can see it."

Optimus vented. "Just, troubled. We don't know what the human military is planning. Last night they suffered from heavy losses and they still refuse to allow us to contact them. I fear they may resort to deadlier weapons against us."

Ironhide silently waited for Optimus to continue. With a twist in his position and a vent, Optimus did. "Ever since NEST was formed I've always struggled with keeping peaceable terms with the United States government. Regardless of how well we executed our missions, they always found a way to fault us. I understand their apprehension, but I fear everything has degraded too much since then."

"Their loss." Gruff and to the point. "We gave them everything we could. Which included the AllSpark shard. Out of goodwill, remember? Hm? Not only did it create disaster the first time around but they still demanded it in order to give us amnesty."

"Which I've never should have done." Harsh anger crossed over the leader's face. He tore away from Ironhide's gaze. "It cost Bumblebee's voice and so many human lives were lost. The resurrection of Megatron and everything that has happened thus far is all a result of that decision!"

Earth, NEST and now his team was fractured. They now are exposed and at risk for being targeted for destruction or worse! Tensions had exploded among the Autobots. Everything was out of hand. Perhaps he should have stayed out of Earth's affairs. Maybe he should have split the team up and left the more apprehensive members on the moon.

"I often wonder if I made the right decisions." Optimus continued sullenly. "Lately, I don't think I have." A moment for reflection then frustration. "So much has been lost because of my mistakes."

"Hm." Ironhide remarked. "We all make mistakes. We know you're not infallible."

"I can't afford to make mistakes, Ironhide!"

"Unrealistic."

A pang of anger arose from Optimus due to Ironhide's stubbornness. He easily subdued it and continued. "I still wonder if being the Autobot leader was a mistake."

Ironhide chortled at Optimus's startling remark. He then boomed. "It's not. Optimus. The reason why we are in so much disarray now, is because we nearly lost you. We simply haven't had the chance to recover yet." It was revelation enough to draw his gaze back to Ironhide's. Optimus hadn't put that into consideration. He neglected to change his tactics to counter such a situation. That was his error. Ironhide vented. "The humans wanting us off this planet is nothing new. We expected this day to come one way or another. However, not after loosing you. If Sam hadn't given us the hope that we might get you back, we would probably be at each others' throats by now and _Earth_ would be a smoldering ball of rubble." His body clanked as he stepped towards his leader. "You know why we follow you. You bring out everyone's best potential." His head drifted away, seemingly in thought or possibly looking past the building. He then tossed his head back to Optimus. "Slag, two of our members would be dead now if it hadn't been for your decisions. Three. If you count that little pipsqueak."

Optimus reached up and smoothed out his bridge plates on his nose. "You're right. There's just so much tension right now."

"Which is why we need you now more than ever. Get those punks back in line. Remind them that you're in charge." Ironhide gave a grave smirk. He then straightened, wincing slightly as some stiffness edged out of his systems. "I'm ready when you are."

* * *

Now Bumblebee was completely weirded out. The military still hasn't come around to round them up. Sure he imagined he probably made them look like fools by tying them up like that, if that was even them. He really doubted it was. Not with cryo weapons, not with the black, flat paint job they sported. And most certainly not with the knowledge that some humans still wanted to pry their hands into some Autobot chest's for some juicy information. The thing is, is that happened hours ago and they haven't come back with a vengeance. Nobody! Well, aside from the police cars that were keeping a close eye on them. It wasn't like Bumblebee was going to stop them.

The attack sight provided little information and Barricade's trail went cold. And now his angered steam was getting replaced by devastating paranoia. His current location was in the hospital parking lot. None of the names he pulled out of the police roster were Mikaela Banes and Leo Spritz. Of course, if a secret service had taken them, how would they know about them? One survivor was brought here. Maybe something, anything would turn up with some farther investigation?

Tension crawled through every segment, every nano-space between his pieces, he was becoming more and more surrounded by flashing lights. Most were red and blue, others flashes of cameras. Right now he was helpless to do anything about it. He was waiting for Wheelie and the Twins.

_When he had the twins finally submit to following him, why didn't he just go back to Optimus!_

Wheelie was going to try and pull hospital records and Skids and Mudflap were sent to piggy back off of a public Wi-fi to hopefully find anything of importance. He knew he was wasting his time, but it's too late now. His engine sickly hummed his tension. Then froze when he picked up a woman's scream from inside the hospital. Not seconds later the double doors slid open and a small metallic body scrabbled out of the doors. Wheelie was practically tripping over himself as he fled whatever chaos he apparently managed to cause.

He then crumbled to a stop when he overlooked Bumblebee's predicament. The parking lot was absolutely surrounded by reporters and cops. Wheelie shot an incredulous glance at the black and yellow car. Bumblebee popped open his passenger side door for Wheelie. It's not like he could do much else!

"The hell did you do!" Wheelie screeched as he looked over the scene. Bumblebee shuttered with shrug.

#Can we go!# The passenger door swung far open to prove an urgent point. Wheelie scrambled back up to his wheels and rushed to the car.

The car door slammed. "I didn't get nothing!" Wheelie muttered. "Heck I even tried to ask the receptionist! That uh, that didn't go over so well." Wheelie tapped his digits over his faceplate.

_Great._ Bumblebee wanted nothing more than to get out of here. At this point, he'd rather look for the twins rather than wait for them to return. Hopefully! Hopefully they found something. Bumblebee roared up his engine and examined his predicament. A large crowd of bystanders and reporters effectively blocked off his exits. Police officers and patrol cars tried desperately to keep a barrier between him and them. Some police officers were paranoid enough to pull out their weapons. Bee's wheels slowly rolled over the pavement as he circled looking for the best way out. Inside Wheelie rolled down the driver side window and peered out.

The musical commentary was playing through the window and now heard by everyone.

#The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me  
The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty  
Never more to go astray  
This will be the end today of the wanted man

Oh momma I've been years on the lam  
And had a high price on my head  
Lawman said get him dead or alive  
Now it's for sure he'll see me dead-#

Slipping past the parked cars Bumblebee headed towards an unconventional exit. He was just going to drive over the grass since the parking lot exits were blocked. Behind him, someone managed to burst through the police line.

"Bumblebee!"

Bee's breaks locked up immediately in surprise. _Victoria? _She ran towards him trying to hail him. Behind her police officers struggled to keep her at bay. They were more successful than her attempts to flee them. To his front the crowd turned rowdy. His circuits were so nerve wrecked he barely acknowledged Victoria behind him.

"Tell us what's going on!" She shouted to him as bodies wrapped around her. "My number-" she struggled as she was pulled backwards. She found one last burst of momentum. "My number is still the same! Call me!"

The black car revved his engine forcing bystanders to back away in fear. He then carefully exited trying hard not to rile up anyone who was armed. Not that it would do him much harm, but he was sure that that for sure would cause a panic. As he was leaving Skids was heading towards him followed by Mudflap.

#Please tell me you have some good news!#

"Nautta. Mum's being the word. Well we was at it, looked up the TRED site. Figured somebody posted somethin. Know whatt I got? I gotta 410."

"A what?" Wheelie questioned.

"A 410. Like a 404 only permanent. Tha site's gone!"

Ugg! Let's review. Government involvement trying to set a trap for Transformers. Government involvement for keeping their information limited. Government involvement for removing their allies. What's the likelihood that it's government involvement for removing the one thing that they could use as their voice. Likely.

#Let's go!# Bumblebee rolled in front of him. This was proving to be fruitless! Worse, he had stirred up the hornet nest so much there was no way he'd risk leading them back to Optimus and the others. He made a hasty retreat with the twins following closely. There was nothing more to do now than to hide.


	27. Engagements

_Fixed Optimus's speech at the end. It never did jive with me right..and recently I discovered its because Optimus has a folksy way of speaking about him. It's hick mixed in with eloquence. That is not an easy combo to replicate, so I made a second stab at it, it reads better now._

**Ch 27**

**Engagements**

"I spy, with my little eye," Jolt mumbled. His body was slouched in a crossed leg sit in the center of his cell. His face propped up on one fist, his arm propped from his knee. "something bad." His voice was dry and disheartened.

"Let me guess. It's either you're friend who got unneeded heart surgery or the force field. And since you can see it and we can't, that doesn't count."

Well, the humans finally felt like warming up and talking to him. Though now wasn't really the time for him to care.

"Wow, am I really that predictable?" Jolt muttered unenthusiastically.

"Well, when you keep coming up with the same things. Yeah, kind'a." The girl smirked at the humorous-less situation.

"How you doing Hound?" Jolt pulled his body into a stand.

"Uh." It took a moment for Hound to compose himself. "Still stuck," Hound took a moment to think, "stuck like a pig."

"You know, for not knowing a whole lot of metaphors, the ones you do know, they're pretty strange." Jolt paced at his wall. His now usual habit.

"Guess I didn't watch too much outside of Westerns."

"Alright Hound, you're turn."

"Uh, okay? I spy? With my little eye?" Strangest game ever!

"Is it anyway to get us out of here?" Jolt questioned.

"Uh, nope. Still don't see anything."

"Then you lose your turn. Next!" Jolt cut off his turn.

"Again?" Hound asked as if surprised. Seriously, strangest game ever.

There was a loud crack and all ease instantly went rigid. Jolt went on full alert and his system flooded with energy and accumulated at his hands.

A minute passed in silence.

"Ohh, I hate this." Jolt growled.

"Like we don't? Hell, most of haven't eaten anything for two weeks!"

"Yeah well at least you're not getting yourself brutally battered up for the sake of some ungrateful, sniveling fleshies!" Jolt countered giving a sinister glance back.

"Yeah? Well at least you don't have bodily functions and had to spend three days begging for a bathroom." She bunted back.

"Yeah. Sucks to be you!" Someone grumbled from the center cell.

"Point." Jolt pointed a glance back to the crossed speaker. Jolt didn't really know a whole lot about bodily functions, what he did know, was that things on this planet needed water. And getting water through a force field by dribbling it on the dirty floor, he was sure counted as a "sucks". That and, he had an inkling of what bodily functions entailed. And Gross!

Outside there was a squabble of another Cybertronian argument. It would normally be disregarded assuming that the vex was arguing with himself as usual, however-

Jolt's attention perked. So did Hound's. That voice!

"Barricade?" Jolt questioned.

Then the giant stepped into the building and approached Hound. Jolt begun to rapidly pace back and forth along his wall. Hound let out a sharp shrill as claws reached in. He groaned and then went still as the giant pulled out his newest toy and connected strange wires to Hound's body. At Hound's distress Jolt once again went into attack mode, even though there was nothing he could unleash out at outside of his barrier.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Barricade followed, growling at the Cybertronian. The giant heaved in disappointment.

"I'm busy. Can't you see that?" He growled and stepped back and fiddled with a panel that was now connected directly to Hound's chest. Jolt ceased his fury enough to watch what was going on. Barricade cast him a dirty and unsympathetic glare.

"You couldn't do one simple thing." Barricade continued, ticked that he was getting shrugged off. "We even gave you the locations! How hard could it be?"

"Perhaps I didn't find the human, because, I don't care to." Vex decidedly dismissed Barricade's tone.

"Then you're a fool. You have your own reasons for getting the flesh bag. He would have been taken to your precious little contraption. He probably destroyed it by now! _You _cost yourself."

"Hardly."

"Should have known." Jolt barged into the conversation. "Getting someone else to do your dirty work Barricade? Wow. That's not like you at all!" He drenched his words in sarcasm. The black beast glared at Jolt with a sneer on his faceplate.

"Well, if it isn't _Autobot _Jolt_." _Barricade stepped towards the blue mech.

"Yeah, and this time, my title's by choice. Funny how not getting pummeled into submission changes your view on things. I'm on the right side now!"

"Yes, I can see that." Barricade tapped on the force field with a snicker. Jolt shifted back but kept a strong wall of defiance.

"Yeah well at least I'm not getting manipulated." Optics narrowed, "I know how much you like manipulating people," Jolt edged up to the force field; it was the only thing preventing him from getting into Barricade's face, "especially the mentally unstable!"

"And you're going to take that?" Barricade passively addressed the giant.

"All he has are words. Although. Powerful words. He's got a point you know." The giant took one easy step to lock Barricade in. "I would be doing some rather dirty work for you, I'm sure. Especially with you're reputation. I wonder. How odd that when you had the chance, you took two meaningless humans instead of the one, and then sent _me _after that boy." A claw stroked across Barricade's shoulder plating. Barricade growled and tore his shoulder away. "What's you're reasoning?" The giant asked inquisitively.

"It's mine and mine alone." Barricade doubled back to give himself some distance. Seeing Hound lying there, he walked around the table. Taking advantage of the prone Autobot, Cade used him as a hostage to guard against his ruse. Starting at the lower leg Barricade bore his claw down into the armor. He proceeded towards the exposed spark.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that." The giant grumbled.

"Oh?" Barricade dipped his claw farther towards Hound's spark. He loosely grasped the wires there and drew them back letting them slowly drift through his clutches. Testing them. Or rather testing the giant's composure. Without fret or hesitation a giant hand reached over and firmly grabbed Barricade's arm.

"You don't really think I would trip over myself over your threat do you? Kill him! I dare you." He egged Barricade. "I only need him for his capabilities; I _do _have a replacement." His grip tightened on Barricade's wrist joint and he pulled him closer. Barricade's only salvation was that the table holding Hound's body blocked the space between them. The giant's optics brightened with an intense and disconcerting desire. Barricade snorted and wrenched his hand back. Refocusing on the topic the goliath continued. "The boy is not a concern of mine. The device, I've already begun to rebuild." Barricade circled around, once again giving him space. "Though I am most intrigued by you. See that is what puzzles me. If that human is so important to you, why didn't you grab him? He would have easily been in your grasp to do so. I want to know why you instead wanted me to get the boy."

Barricade was silent. His expression stowed upon him that he was irritated with the Cybertronian's meddling.

"Hm, so. A devious plan no doubt." Vex laughed lightly. "Then perhaps another payment. If you won't give information, then I want- something else, your prize." His voice went from cool, calm and collective to dangerous, "I'll get your meat bag for you, but not without payment. I want your prisoners!"

Cade turned with a sneer. "I will not!"

The voice then purred with threat. "Ah yes. For you're own vicarious vices no doubt! The fate of our world lies in the balance and you can't get over petty grievances!" His voice roared he reached over and grabbed Barricade. "You will tell me what you're planning or give me an incentive! If not then I'll end your miserable spark right here and now!" His voice turned smooth. "I won't ask any more questions if you just give me your two prisoners." His voice turned more sinister and his optics held an unsteady fanatic look to them, "and I might be more willing to help you in- other matters." Barricade lowered himself into a more defensive position. "I won't do anything with them." The giant reassured. "Besides, I know why you want them, and I assure you, you'll have your revenge soon enough. Just allow me the chance to get everything in it's proper place."

"You're making a deal with a crazy person Barricade! You sure that's wise?" Jolt called out to his foe, actually amused at the predicament Barricade crawled himself into.

"Stay out of this!" The Decepticon snarled back.

"Oh, but this is just getting too good. You're in the same predicament as I am. That is just delightful!"

"I will tear you apart!" Barricade snapped.

"Really now? I thought you tried that once, turns out, you sort of failed because I still have plenty of juice to take you on!" Lighting turned into a flurry to prove his point.

"Wasted scrapheap! You think you can defeat me? I was only teaching you a lesson! This time, I do it for keeps!" Barricade stepped away from the giant and focused entirely on Jolt.

"Have to get me first!"

Barricade snarled and pulled out his weapon. "That can be arranged!" He glanced up at the infrastructure of the cell system. This was what Jolt was waiting for. Lightning sparked and he rolled into his eagerness.

Without warning, Barricade's head crashed into the energy wall as his body was shoved forward. Behind him the giant spun Barricade around and to get into his face. "Now, now. _Don't mess with my prisoner!_" Barricade twitched eying the creature carefully. The giant stepped back coolly as the look of fear in Barricade was enough.

"Do we have a deal then?" He was met with silence. A large vent of air expelled from the giant's body. "Which one do you want? I intend to get them all, there's no point for you wasting your resources in order to keep those- things. If they are bait then I'll use them as bait. If not, I'll keep them alive for you! Just bring them to me!"

Barricade lowered his head in anger and frustration. Without a word he stormed out of the room. Not minutes later he returned with two humans bundled up in thick wads of metal. They were carelessly dropped to the floor, which caused them to yelp when they crashed.

"We have a deal." Barricade growled.

"Most astounding."

Barricade stood snarling before turning to leave. Jolt reeled back seeing Leo and Mikaela bound there. They struggled against their bonds. Mikaela paused for a moment to size in the creature before her. Jolt shot a glare at the now empty door but the giant stepped into his line of sight. Leo and Mikaela were picked up and placed into the cell next to his.

"So what's the deal? I didn't figure you were one for taking sides! Why let him go! Why aren't you capturing him like you are us?" Jolt questioned hurriedly. So far nothing was working in his favor. He had to keep trying.

"Because," the Cybertronian glanced back to make sure that Barricade was truly gone, "he is of some use to me yet. To know, how deceptive they think they are. He will call down his allies. They will think they have the upper hand. Instead, they will be doing everything towards my will."

At first Jolt gaped at the revelation. Or perhaps the ease of relaying his plans. "Yeah well, hate to break this to you, but the bridge is gone. Nobodies coming to back him up."

His captor scoffed. "So you destroyed the bridge." The Cybertronian language was full of condescending furor. "How long do you really think that will hold them off? Hm? I am not concerned. After all, I still need time to finish. If they don't have the bridge rebuilt by then, then I will gladly give them passage." He turned away. "Now if you will excuse me, I must go collect some, raw, material."

He then disappeared leaving Jolt behind in his thoroughly confused thoughts.

"So what's going on?" A voice from the cell next to him called out.

Jolt switched to English for the human's account. Not that he had much to relay. "I'm not sure, but I don't like it." He approached the force field. "Hound! Hound you awake?"

This time, there was no response.

* * *

The sun was now setting in the West casting deep blue shadows to appear underneath a large bridge. That's where they were hiding, in paranoia at every passing car overhead. Bumblebee sat quietly rolling around his head on just how much deep slag he managed to get himself into. Everyone for that matter. He didn't even dare pick up any radio or other telecommunication frequency that he still had access to. He didn't dare listen to see how bad they screwed up. Then he got something even more dreadful.

A ping from Optimus. Apprehensively he pinged back. No more than fifteen minutes later a herd of vehicles waited at the bridge's edge. Slowly seeping out of hiding he shut out his sensors so he couldn't pick up the angry vibes from the others. Wheelie had gone surprisingly quiet as well as the twins. They all realized that their actions came with consequences. That silence continued until they finally made their way to an old factory's parking lot. It was still in use, but not during the after hours. For now it was a safe-ish place to hide.

Bumblebee lost his nerve as the others went ahead of him. He cringed as he noted that Optimus had stopped behind him. Surely that meant that Bumblebee would be first to receive his verbal flogging. The others moved beyond sight and the tension in the air thickened to smothering levels. To salvage anything, Bumblebee packaged his information about Sam, Leo, Mikaela and Barricade. It didn't give him an excuse for what he'd done, but it was at least his duty to inform Optimus.

Optimus vented out a long low rush of air while he looked the package over. "Bumblebee," he began, "we have bigger issues to deal with right now. I _can't _have my soldiers running off and doing their own thing." His tone wasn't even angry, just tired. And very _disappointed_. Bumblebee shrunk in tighter. Optimus moved past him. Whether it was on purpose or Bumblebee's over reactive imagination, he was given a brunt of a cold shoulder or a cold wheel in this case. That feeling of disappointment Optimus gave him struck him to his core. Bee drifted back sheepishly. He returned to the others and folded himself in quietly.

"Uh oh." The twins muttered unenthusiastically as they were called on.

They disappeared out of the area and to the secluded location. However, their punishment was very different from Bumblebee's. At a distance and separated by a building a heated chiding could be heard. There was anger in Optimus's tone. Anger that Bumblebee knew that he contributed to. He let the big guy down! He pulled in his body tighter. He listened to the anger, letting it burn across his sensors until his voice quieted and he could hear no more. Optimus was now just talking. It wasn't his place to pry so Bumblebee drifted away from the anger and slowly let the other's presence seep into his sensors. To his right was Ironhide. Relief spread over him seeing him alive and functional. But then Bee seethed in guilt again. Too much to expand his senses out farther. After what felt like an eon passing Bumblebee finally forced enough tension down to address him. Although he wasn't sure how well he'd be received.

#I'm glad to see you're okay.#

Ironhide was silent. Bee sunk farther into his tires.

Then, sullenly he responded quietly. "Yes. Well. You have Ratchet to thank for that." Bee nodded carefully. Another pause passed and Bumblebee wondered if he hadn't already worn out his welcome. "Say Bumblebee, when you went to the hospital for information, did you find anything on Lennox?"

He hadn't. Wheelie was the one who looked for the information. Even still, the civilian hospitals wouldn't have had the knowledge of military wounded. Bumblebee cooed sadly in his way telling Ironhide a pathetic no.

"I know. It was just on the odd chance that you might have heard something." Ironhide replied as softly as his gruff voice would allow. Bee warbled quietly. The noise caused Ironhide to vent slowly. "How are you holding up?"

Bee deflected the question.

::COMMUNICATION LINK FROM USER 23948*293*125 TO 10956*240*153::**  
**Objective: Target Location: Mission City. Query.

"No. He's been long gone for a while now." His sensors narrowed on the scout. "Now, back to my question. I swear you're becoming just as bad as Arcee." The comment seemed to cause a ripple in the air.

With a sharp vent Bumblebee packaged the same information he just gave to Optimus minutes prior.

Ironhide looked through it rather quickly before giving a response. "Well if it's any solace. He wouldn't have taken them without a reason. They're alive." _For now. _But this wasn't the best time to bring up 'for now'. "As soon as we figure out how to deal with this current threat, they'll be top of the list."

#Before we leave home?# It was the best clip he could muster up in the short amount of time looking. The comment raised Ironhide's temperature five degrees.

There was no point hiding it. They're chances didn't look good for ever getting invited back to Earth to stay. Or to even visit.

"Yeah. Before we leave home."

The area was deathly silent until a stir of three robotic forms walked in. The twins, while somber were calmer now, suggesting that everything they endured hadn't been all bad. Optimus stepped up behind them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Glancing back up to him he nodded for them to return to the crowd. As they did the vehicles clicked and clanked to be in their more natural states. Optimus carefully looked his team over.

"I understand that for you all, now is a difficult time." Optimus deep voice resonated inside their cores. All optics looked him over. Many held a resoundingly 'yes' look in their optics. "Remember- we have all been through worse. When war first ravaged our planet, when all seemed lost, we found hope. " He paused to look at each and every one of his team members. "That hope, was coming together. As Autobots you learned that as a whole we were powerful enough to take on the tyranny that threatened our lives. At that time, most of you- were not warriors. Alone you felt like detriments to a greater purpose. However as you each knew the costs of the destruction and pain that came with loosing friends and family you came together as one. With my leadership, you rose up- _determined _to fight against this enemy with everything in your power. Each and every one of you discovered your greatest potential. You became powerful warriors and more importantly, powerful allies and friends. With that knowledge, know that despite whatever happens- We. Are still- here. Each of you are all cogs in a much larger purpose.

When our enemies reduced themselves to petty infighting, we remained strong and focused. Because of your dedication, we denied the Decepticons their greatest victories. We refused to allow them to destroy hope. We have prevented Megatron from seizing the greatest power ever known to them. Together, we have destroyed the Fallen, the one who spread the worst corruption among our people. The ancient responsible for giving them delusions of grandeur and power at the greatest cost of life. His power, greater than any one of us has ever known, who seemed unconquerable, but together we made sure he didn't have a prayer. We are stronger because where they are weak, we remain as one. We must continue to remember that as one, we are an unconquerable force.

It's not the planet that made us great. Though it is an important cornerstone. It is where we regained our presence. Where we have come together, and rebuilt our forces. Earth is an important reminder of what we stand for. Life. Freedom. We fight against the tyranny and destruction our enemies wish to bring to all sentient life. This planet is a reminder of our victories won and those we will continue to win. Regardless of what happens between us and the inhabitants of this planet, it is our duty to continue to fight.

We are still here. I am still your leader. I expect each and every one of you to continue giving me your best. You always have and nothing is going to change that now." Optimus's deep voice purred. "For that you have always made me proud. And for as long as we fight as one, you always will."


	28. Confession

_GRrrrr! Another rail. LALA one of the two most super online radio sites I found is getting surprised buttsecksed and then ate up by Apple and itunes. Isn't that GREAT! HEh. heh. HJEH'opa h Y]48 ahoug o[arhgaehH ahgfn !_

* * *

**Ch 28**

**Confession**

His team was resting, getting the much deserved recharge they needed. He had dipped in to his own short recharge. Short, just enough to stave off exhaustion. Other tasks were too important right now.

_"Tell us what's going on!" _Optimus sifted back to the short conversation that was nestled inside Bumblebee's packaged message.

The acts of Sam and Bumblebee had had an amazing result on changing public opinion. One that he never felt while dealing with Washington. He exercised great attempts to appease all sides yet very few budged. But perhaps there was another way to gain an audience.

Above him the sky was crystalline black with speckles of starlight. They twinkled on account of the atmosphere distorting the light which gave an intriguing beauty. The grass on the large hill he was parked on still held their lush green despite the approaching winter. He could sense the cells within the stems thrive. The cool wind was blowing placidly and although he couldn't sense that with great detail, he recalled how many of his human friends from NEST would have called this _the perfect night_.

There was a soft crack as a stick snapped underneath an approaching foot. She was trying to be ever so quiet, to be invisible, but she had been in his scanners for minutes now. Her shadow brushed over the grass and Victoria stood there looking the large truck over. She couldn't see it, but she knew he was watching her.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Optimus began which caused her to visibly startle. She cast a weary eye before replying.

"You know, last time I came out to the middle of nowhere to meet like this, it didn't go so well."

"I know, and I am sorry."

Victoria stepped up and looked the large truck over with more scrutiny. The flames were washed away leaving a solid red base. The color scheme was definitely more neutral and less flashy than before. It made sense regarding their latest issues.

"I guess I was expecting Bumblebee."

There wasn't a verbal reply this time, only the sound of a door unlocking and a slight creak as the door softly swung open. Victoria's heart skipped a beat.

"I called you here on account that you have proven yourself trustworthy."

His words took her by surprise, even though they probably shouldn't. She numbly nodded her head. "So, are you willing to answer some of my questions then?"

There was a short pause of contemplation. "That's not why I called you here, but I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. As long as they don't compromise my team."

"Optimus? Right? The Autobot leader."

"Correct."

"Alright." Victoria's heart raced. The open door was there, inviting her in. Like tantalizing snare so obvious it set up red flags. "Optimus, leader of the Autobots." She repeated. "Biggest, baddest, mechanical, I, I don't understand. Why did you call me here?"

The truck vented out a long stream of hot air from within it's engine. "I need- your help."

The breath was tore out of her lungs. "My help?" She scrambled to repeat the question but at first, words couldn't formulate across her tongue. "How can I help you?"

"Please, step in. I'd like to talk."

It took a split second, but with prior knowledge of the mechanical beasts, the concept was crystal clear; The color drained out of her face. There was a possibility that they were being watched. This was probably his way of making sure the conversation was secure.

"Okay," she nodded, "but I'll ask my questions first, right? To get good faith you have to give it."

Silence responded. She wasn't entirely sure if she overstepped her bounds, but the door never closed.

"Please, step in." The voice repeated.

She could do that, it wasn't the first time she's been inside an alien before. She grabbed onto the metal handles and hoisted herself up and into the seat. The door closed behind her throwing another wash of chills over her. She stared at the inside of the cab briefly. When nothing spectacular happened, she found her voice again. "So what's this about?"

The cab was silent while Optimus formulated his thoughts. There wasn't ticking, though there was a strange regal air inside the compartment.

"You were going to ask your questions first." Optimus politely reminded her.

"Right," she straightened out in the leather-like seat. She then pulled out her recorder and debatedly set it down on to the dash board. "You agree that this will be on the record, correct?"

"Continue with your questions please."

A tense nervousness crossed over her. Though he was cooperating she could pick up a strong hint that he wasn't happy with the situation.

"Okay," she made sure her recorder was recording, "why are you on Earth?" She would just wing it. It shouldn't be too hard, after all anywhere she went that's all the people talked about. Giant robots.

It was as if the truck heaved in a loft of air in preparation to answer.

"We are here to insure that the threat on this planet is fully eliminated."

"The Decepticon threat?"

"Yes and any others that are of Cybertronian origin."

"Okay?" Those were some massively pointed answers. "Why?" She countered with an equally pointed question. She wasn't a reporter and she didn't pretend to be one. This was just because she herself wanted to know! The truck, seemed to be taken aback by the short question. Or he was just choosing his words carefully.

"I feel that it's an obligation. So much death and destruction has resulted from our war. It is my responsibility to make sure that innocent planets aren't left unprotected."

"Right but, why do you care? I mean who's gonna buy that you came light years away to play guardian over some planet that has nothing to do with yours? You're going to be hard pressed to find anyone who actually believes that."

"People will believe what they want. It's not my place to try and force them to understand. However, it is that mentality that is making our task very difficult to accomplish. It is the very reason why I've called you here tonight."

"Right. You do realize that this is just a lot of the talk that's been going around. How you're not welcome here. This isn't necessarily my position!" Last thing she wanted was to get a big rig mad at her.

"No, I fully understand."

"You also understand that a lot of what's being said is because we're scared and we don't know what's going on." She sat forward, trying to deduce anything from looking at a dashboard.

"And I fear that was my fault. I had assumed that by remaining hidden it would be safer for your people, as well as mine. Now that our enemy has exposed us, I realize that I was mistaken."

"Which has just absolutely left the media in a circus frenzy." She muttered sourly. She would know.

"As well as your government."

Her eyes light up in surprise. "What are they up to anyway?"

"I don't know any more than you do. They, won't hail any of our attempts to communicate with them."

Victoria's brows furrowed. "You tried to contact them directly? I mean, I know Bee and a couple others tried to ask for help at the college."

"Yes, the twins. They however, can be a little, abrasive."

Victoria smiled at that and huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah, Sam warned me about that. Seriously though, do you think the government is planning something against you?"

"I can't comment."

Then with more animation that she held prior, she reached forward and slammed the device off with one hand. "Off the record." She stared dead set at the dashboard. The truck made a quiet waning noise. "Optimus, look you asked for my help. You said I was trustable right? I am. I just want to know what's going on." The silence beckoned on. "What are they planning? Jeezus, you've got black helicopters flying around like crazy, Washington's in chaos! You got half the people who want you back, others want you dead. And they've been watching you guys like a hawk! There's a reason for it, because I think they know that you won't hurt anybody. So why?"

"Recently. I discovered that the last forms they required us to sign had loopholes. With those loopholes, upon our return, all previous contracts are null and void."

"Meaning?"

Now the truck began to tick. He really didn't want to say. He didn't want to put the humans in a bad light. However, what was, was. "We are once again at risk for being captured and subjugated to experimentation. It took great lengths to pass a resolution to prevent it. I know that if it wasn't for Bumblebee's mistreatment it would have been impossible."

Bumblebee's mistreatment? Experiments! Victoria sat their stunned. Maybe she wouldn't have if she hadn't met Bumblebee before. To know that some form of horrors were hidden under that sunny disposition. Experimentation on the aliens was mentioned in such a brief moment, but being forced under the scalpel- it must have been terrifying. And to imagine there would be nothing to stop it. She nodded dumbly. Then she reached for her device.

"Wait." His placid voice stopped her cold. Optimus continued, off the record. "The creature that attacked you and Bumblebee has not been eliminated. I don't want this getting out for it will cause panic, but the truth is, we don't know if we're strong enough to destroy him. Not alone anyway. He's managed to take two of my members prisoners and direly wounded my weapons specialist. In addition to that _we _cannot be affective if we have to keep our guard up against two fronts. We should be working together with your people but there is so much distrust that it's been difficult to convince them of this urgency."

"So that's why you need my help. To try and convince the people that it's urgent, without causing mass panic. That's a hard line to walk."

"I know, and I am sorry. I feel terrible for putting the brunt of this task onto your shoulders."

Victoria slowly took his words in. She then flipped the button on her device and pulled it towards her. She licked her lips and continued. Shaky at first, a pause, then trying to regain her composure. "I still have to ask. If only because we're chasing you down, you have a soldier that- was upset because he felt that they were being hunted down like dogs. Staving off attacks by those you're trying to protect is creating dissidence among your people." She paused to see if her statement went challenged. It wasn't. Victoria continued, this time she had a sharp slice in her voice. "Why are you still risking your lives to protect us?" Her eyes fixed at the dashboard. They were in all earnest, angry.

A long pause, which forced Victoria to nestled back into the leather-like seat.

"You have never seen a planet die." Optimus told her with such gravity in his voice. "We have. Before, we were helpless to stop the life draining out from our planet. Countless friends and comrades faded out with it. We know first hand the horrors of helplessness that result from-" he paused, realizing his poorly worded statement, however it was too late. He continued. "-the destruction. All of my soldiers, regardless of how they feel about your kind, will fight with their every fiber of strength to eliminate the Decepticon threat. Which is," he paused, "regrettably, destructive. We realize this, it is however out of our control. The Decepticons have a new supply of civilians to get caught up into the chaos. They use this against us. It is a long standing strategy employed by them to force us into positions we would rather not be in. We defend _life_. That is why it simply will not work to leave this planet and hope that they will take the battle to us." Optimus's voice turned grave. "They know our weaknesses all too well and they will use every opportunity to exploit them."

Victoria listened with horror but found herself nodding in understanding. "Is there any way to stop it?"

The truck vented, causing Victoria to startle. Why a truck needed to breath was beyond her.

"Not until we have eliminated them as a threat." Far more daunting than first imagined. A small sprout of optimism had sprung up among his small band after their victory in Mission City. Megatron was dead and the AllSpark, all but destroyed. With their leader gone and the artifact that was detriment to fueling the war destroyed, there should have been no more need for them to continue. That thought however, was short lived. Barely a week passed and Barricade had already on a new reconnaissance mission, Arcee's team had been destroyed and an attempt to regain power by recreating the powerful artifact was put forward by Starscream. However, Optimus sent out a call for more Autobot's to join his team. They did. During that time, NEST was formed. That small sprout of optimism continued to thrive. "On earth, with the assistance of your people we have been able to make an effective comeback against the Decepticons."

"Then when you eliminate the threat, will you leave?"

"Yes, if that is the wish. We won't impose farther if your people do not want us here."

"Even those on your team who call this place home?"

"Things must be what they must be."

Victoria winced at that. _Harsh. _She studied the inside of the cab over carefully. The silence was staggering. "You're troops know that?"

"Of course."

She was at a loss for words. "And they're okay with this!" She was actually a bit irate over this. Nothing made sense. They gained absolutely nothing by risking their lives protecting the humans, and yet here they were.

"They are all fully dedicated soldiers."

"But!"

"Victoria." Optimus interrupted her sharply but calmly. "I understand your frustration. Believe me, no one is more disheartened about the situation than I am. I thank you, for your understanding. It's always encouraging when one sees past our physical appearances."

She was speechless. She sighed and collapsed into her hands.

"This is unbelievable." She breathed. "Okay, I don't want to be wasting any more of your time so-"

"It's no waste. I find every moment like this to be precious."

She scoffed sadly. "I'm sure. Stop being so-" She twitched to keep her mouth shut. She was about to reprimand the alien for being too considerate! An odd concept. Especially considering some of the thoughts she had when she first saw him. "Okay, I know you have things you need to do, so please, say what you need to. Tell the people what they need to know. Here's your voice." The recorder was picked up and aimed at the radio, more symbolic than anything.

* * *

Again he was exhausted. He wasn't entirely sure why, nor did he care. Jolt once again paced frantically back and forth at his wall. The giant had been hovering over Hound's body for hours now. He had been fiddling around with his toys connected to his chest.

"No! No! No! _No!_ NO! It's not working!" The giant jumped out of his crouch into his full stand which caused his head to crash into the ceiling. He roared in frustration throwing a swing at it, puncturing through and knocking rubble down. Another hiss and he stormed away from Hound's body, pacing the room and yelling. "Damn him! That slagging scrapheap; Barricade you bastard! Two Deca-cycles spent for nothing! And you!" An accusatory claw pointed at Jolt's direction. He then shrieked. "Why don't you know where it is!"

"What?" Jolt gasped in confusion.

"The _device! _The _device! _I can't do anything with out it!"

Jolt couldn't help but smile. "Good."

In hindsight, probably not the best thing to say. The giant was now completely enraged, yelling at the top of his vocal capacity. Jolt stepped back. He arched his claws but with the sudden furry, he didn't think of engaging his energy. It didn't matter, The giant leapt upwards, he transformed and crashed through the ceiling. Energy blasted into the room. The jet rocketed off.

* * *

_Deca-cycle = 3 weeks._


	29. Just Another Day

_Yaknow, just cuz I said you don't NEED to comment doesn't mean you shouldn't. Shesh._

OMFG! I was out shopping around . .and I'm sittin there trying to make my way back to the road right. . .and. . I SAW BUMBLEBEE! Somebody had a yellow Camaro with the black racing stripes. Even had the red Autobot emblem on the side XD XD XD.. So I got on the road right. . I tried taking pictures iwht my camera without looking like a tool . .I ended up looking like a tool and my phone is so crappy you can't see it anyways :( . . but I ended up following him all the way to the mall. XD XD XD. . .

btw. I was shopping for a scanner . .and I never found one that wasn't attached to a crappy assed 88 dollar printer. :(

* * *

**Ch 29**

**Just Another Day**

Highway to Interstate, Interstate to highway, after seven hours of driving they once again found themselves obeying the familiar and restrictive traffic conditions that were amply implemented around human dwellings. They clustered together, waiting for the red light to change.

"Remember, Finding our allies and determining our foe's weakness are our top priorities."

"And we'll find him here?" The red pickup edged up closer to the semitruck's side. "Hm. Odd place."

"Prowl's investigation puts a high probability that this is where he'll be." Optimus replied.

"Should we fan out? We'll cover more ground that way." Arcee asked parked behind them.

"No, it's important that we stay together."

The light turned green. Air squeaked out as the air breaks released. Driving momentum into his engine, the rumble grew and waned with every passing shift of his gears. All systems perfectly inline to perfectly imitate that of any ordinarily large vehicle on the road. However any driver who dared to settle their eyes on the vehicles could see something extraordinarily different. Deep scratch marks, bullet holes and strange dried fluid plastered over their bodies. They could assume the rest from there.

They arrived in the area only a few minutes ago so it wasn't in their expectations to find anything so soon. That's why it was a surprise when Bumblebee's engine stalled and he threw himself into full alert.

"Bumblebee! What are you doing!" Sideswipe slammed his breaks behind him. Ironhide slowed down from ahead of them.

"What is it?" Ironhide questioned.

#I tought I taw a putty tat.#

"What?" Sideswipe hissed. Behind them a car horn blared out in impatience. Despite that, Bumblebee stayed put. Ever scanner was perked for the scent he just briefly caught. It was again hidden but there was something not so easily hidden. Sound. Sound of engine revolutions. Each vehicle had their own distinctive hum. Even more so: imitated vehicles. Bee stretched out his audio reception scanners trying to ignore the amount of background noise. Then his engine roared.

#I did! I did taw a putty tat!# He quickly sent a identification code to the others.

Ironhide was the first to perk at the message. "Barricade!"

As if that was permission, speed floored into Bumblebee's wheels. He shot off like a light. The other vehicles rumbled with speed of their own. At least to see if there was any truth in this matter. Bumblebee was at the far lead. His wheels squealed as he made a high speed turn, soon thereafter followed by the wheels of many other vehicles. Not far away but ahead of them came a second squeal. Barricade's tires pitched as he suddenly caught on that he wasn't alone. His signature mask faltered yet again releasing his presence to the others. A blip indicated that he might have been taken by surprise or off guard. To determine what made him drop his guard the first time around wasn't looked into by the two vehicles. Two because now Sideswipe joined in on the race. The scent was caught and they weren't about to loose the trail. Not this time!

Prowl however, dipped in speed as he accessed the situation. There had to be a reason.

Three new twists and turns, then a road away separated by the passing buildings, the two Autobots caught their first glimpse of Barricade. He was still in the lead but they were determined to catch up. The two sports cars cranked out another sharp turn. Then Sideswipe slowly edged forward. Now they cruised directly behind Barricade. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.

Barricade however had other plans. Up ahead the road split into three forks. The main one started flashing and dropping down it's crossbars as a warning. A train was coming. So, obviously Barricade was going to get ahead of the train! More speed vamped. All focus was on Barricade and the candy stripped sign that would soon be in their path. Just as Bumblebee closed in, Barricade pulled an unexpected move. He swerved off the main road and down the left fork. It was a gravel road that lead to a dead end. Bumblebee slammed his breaks at the odd change, and redirected his course. It unfortunately cost him nanoklicks. Barricade barreled forward. He blasted past the no trespassing sign and towards the- tracks! Stupid tunnel vision! Be aware of your surroundings! Always be aware of your surroundings! The gravel road also crossed the tracks. The biggest difference was it didn't have the crossbar that now hindered their way. The train horn blasted out a frantic warning. The train released it's breaks throwing a shrill hiss in the air. Sparks flew at where it's wheels bore into the metal terraces. So many deaths because of this back way, the train driver was desperate not to add any of his own. Too big, too fast, he could only shut his eyes as the first car crossed in front. Barricade's body shuttered as his tires slipped over the metal tracks. Despite Sideswipe's own rash behaviors, he hissed out a responsible action to Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee! _STOP! _You won't make it!"

Barricade just slipped by, though not without taking a swipe to his back end. Bumblebee gunned it, bound and determined to make it. The train rumbled, shaking the ground at intervals of spinning metal wheels. Then at the last possible moment, with the train horn still shrieking, Bumblebee slammed down hard on his breaks, kicking sand and dirt into the air which skidded him forward. He stopped, barely, as the train's side scraped harshly at his bumper, his nose. Adding a raspy grinding noise to the squeals the train was already projecting.

There was another call to stop, this time for Sideways, in unison by Optimus, Ironhide and Prowl. Which barely prevented Sideways from transforming and leaping over the train in a single bound. But it wasn't their commands that caused him to hesitate. As he skidded to a stop he shot a look back while the other Autobots froze in alarm.

"Prowl what's going on!" Arcee braked frantically. Bumblebee shifted back. Refocusing his scanners, the dread that washed over everyone else now washing over him. Above them the blackened sky washed darkness over the ground below.

"What the?"

"Take cover!" Ironhide roared and the Autobots scrambled.

"Prowl!" Ratchet hissed in demand.

"I don't know, my police scanners aren't connected to the military channels!" Because above them, the largest hoard of military aircraft they had ever seen in flight at once was now above them. They tried desperately to find a hiding spot, only to find a flat wall of a building. Expecting the worst, they cringed. The aircraft above them rumbled through the air as they slowly dipped into the atmosphere. A moment later but still under the sound Prowl spoke out again. "- wait." He took a moment to analyze his feed. Then feeds he tried to tap off of them. "We're not the target." Then a string of codes and he was able to understand. "Optimus, he's attacking civilians!"'

"The rogue?"

"That's right, this way!" Police sirens trilled to life.

Begrudgingly they let Barricade slip through their grasp yet again. But this, was direly more important.

The explosions and fire in the far distance said as much. More miles were set to their wheels. They had a direction. But with the flight of the jets, there was no way for the Autobots to catch up. So by the time they reached their destination, they were already too late. It only took moments but the results were long tormenting. The chaos lay before them. Military vehicles laid scattered. The giant turned to the skies and crowed loudly as he just finished off the last of those who hadn't fled or couldn't.

"Is that the best you got!" Then in maniacal laughter he hissed and growled turning his attention to a cluster of civilians. They were all bunched together huddled and frightened, suggesting he had cornered and terrorized them already. He reached for them, his large red claw splayed open to receive them.

"Optimus!" Prowl hissed out. All optics lay to their enemy. Engagement wasn't their best option. They all knew it.

"We have no choice. We must protect the civilians! Autobots attack!" Clinking and clanking Optimus started the charge, but Sideswipe moved in faster. He skated past the rubble, and intercepted the talons and the terrified people. His arm thrown out, rotated and merged into a solid blade. Metal slinking across metal he slashed through the giant's palm. The giant, paused for a moment, surprised to see him.

The surprise didn't last for long. He stood back and gurgled in laughter. "So nice of you to drop by! I was wondering where you were!"

Arcee and Chromia were the next to reach him. A flurry of speed and a coordinated attack they unleashed their barrage of awesome firepower. The other Autobots surrounded him. Ironhide pulled up his cannons, launching large projectiles of metal forth. The giant reacted, to avoid a follow up parry, the sisters and Ironhide twisted and rolled away from his slashes. A sharp pain spiked into Ironhide's side. He tumbled to his chest. The sisters continued their fire. With a growl Ironhide forced back his pain. The old wound sheered open from his movements. Ironhide then turned back, launching his more heavier hitting weapons and regained his footing. Optimus stepped back to go long range with his rifle. One shot. Two shots. Three.

Despite the heavy rain of new firepower, the giant turned to them amused. "Now let's see if you pose more of a challenge than they did!" His arm turned into a weapon. Striking the ground, a pulse then a burst of bright blue light enveloped the ground in silence. Followed by the powerful eruption of whooshing. The blast ruptured forward knocking down everything in it's path. The giant took a step, kicking over a few destroyed cars and scattering a few innocent civilians in the mix. Rolling out of the way, the Autobots regained their stance. Leaping and tearing and firing they worked to level their foe.

But under his feet was someone who wasn't able to do those things. A young child moaned in horrified terror. A foot stomped next to him, so large, clicking as gyros worked in auto-balance. The child turned looking for and now screaming for his father.

So far the two were hanging back but now Skids and Mudflap saw a reason to rush into the action.

"Oh man! He gonna get squished!" With a new found surge of energy they trotted forward.

"I gotchyur back!" Skids rolled and started firing. Mudflap slipped down using his momentum to slide across the ground. He grabbed the kid. He rolled to the side as an explosion unleashed around him. Among the rubble one man grasped at a destroyed car to use as both a protective barrier and leverage to hold up his shaky legs. More frightened people were behind him, but he was terrified for his child. He hollered for his son. A streamer of noise was heard but not realized until the missile landed and exploded near him. He bowed down from the chaotic blast that kicked debris and fire into his face. When he glanced back up he saw a red robot running full blast towards him. He screamed and shrunk back. As the robot neared he fell flat on his back and began sobbing out helpless pleas.

Prowl was grounded. Hovering above him was the giant who had managed to pry one of Sideswipe's swords and was now using it for his own advantage. The blade slammed down crashing into the ground. Prowl rolled away then rolled again as the giant tried to spike him to the ground. Rolling his legs over his head Prowl back somersaulted. Upon his feet he took an awkward blast with his weapon.

It struck the giant's face in a clink. But there was other damage being dealt to him that was more pressing. Growling the giant stood up and reached for the Autobots on his back. Three of them were being persistent little pests. They dodged and rolled out of his grasps. Arcee and Chromia jumped away and bounded off a nearby building taking shots as they did so. Cranking out his large cannon arm the goliath blasted a corner off the building. The mass of energy blew into Arcee as well. Crying out, Chromia crashed to the ground. Recovering quickly she started powering her cannon before unleashing harder hitting shots. As bad as that was, there was still one more irritating Autobot slashing and pounding his fist into anything tangible. Another snarl and Bumblebee was stripped off and flung.

Mudflap had just released the boy. There was a quick reunion formulated between him and his father by a gripping hug so powerful no creature could pry them apart. Mudflap shooed the humans away. Before they were safely out of sight a call yelled from his brother drew him to look behind him. Mudflap turned and froze. A mass of flailing limbs then Bumblebee crashed into him. Human screams erupted as the two bowled a path through them. The two tumbled in a spinning wheel of red, black, red until the momentum slowed and spat them in two opposite directions. Bumblebee crashed onto his chest while Mudflap laid back staring up at the spinning stars only he could see.

"Ow! That hurt!" He bellowed.

Bumblebee warbled as he pulled himself into a kneel. Looking to his side, he drew in horror as he saw Arcee lying across the field. Ratchet saw her too. His weapon was blasting out a concussion of small missiles. Rolling to a new location, another set of missiles. Rolling again he made his way to Arcee. Bumblebee was already standing over her, frantic as he wanted to help.

"Go!" Ratchet hissed. He swatted the air in motion for Bee to continue with the battle. He then slid to his knees and quickly plucked his weapons into tools.

For Optimus, long range seemed to be having little affect. It had to get personal. His blades slashed forward but before he could close in a loud swoosh of energy ruptured the air. For the humans it was a deafening sound. The Autobots ducked to avoid the power. They had seen this energy before. Powerful enough to tear apart a Construction who stood atop a pyramid. The top secret rail-gun weapon was just launched at its second target. The deafening noise halted. Senses flooded with the noise of raining rubble and crackling fires. The giant had finally collapsed.

"Now!" Optimus stood and rushed forward. The Autobots regained themselves. All quickly aimed and blasted away while Optimus slashed his sword down. It landed into the top of his head. With all his strength he thrust it down and ripped it across the face, twisting for that extra bit of decapitation.

Frazzled circuits caused him to twist and convolve. The remaining optics blinked while a single mouth plate twitched. Among the Autobots, metallic shoulders drooped and ease spread, but it was terribly short lived. Screaming the giant rolled to his knees while holding onto what was now barely his head.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sideswipe growled in disbelief.

"Ratchet!" Prowl screamed at the medic.

"I don't know! I just don't know!"

"You want to play dirty!" The giant's voice was fractured due to wave synthesizers missing in his face. Pulling himself to his feet he transformed more parts out into weapons. He screamed louder. "You want to play dirty! FINE! Let's play dirty!" His two arms flung together to form his super cannon and aimed it at them. The Autobots readied themselves for another attack, then suddenly the cannon swiveled sharply and opened fire on the helpless crowd of human civilians off to the side. "How's that for dirty!" Screams sounded across the skies. Shock then action, Sideswipe flung himself in front of the civilians. The large projectile impacted, then explosions. Sideswipe's body rocketed when the power struck him, flinging him back until the momentum could drag his crumpled body no more. Twisting and writhing he squawked out horribly. Then with a powerful stomp the giant was over Sideswipe.

"Don'chu die on me! Don'chu dare! I'm going to make this last forever- I will have your spark!" The words rolled off giant's broken vocals. He reached out for the fallen bot.

"Sideswipe!" Chromia raced up to do what she could to stall the giant. All her cannons and weapons spilled open pummeling him with bullets and plasma. She turned briefly to the humans who were too dumbfounded to flee. "Run! Get out of he-" With a slice of a backhand she was sent backwards. She smashed up against a vehicle with enough force to move it twenty feet.

The other Autobots were quick to advance. Making this quick, in one arm he grabbed for Sideswipe. He lifted him off the ground with one clawed swoop while the other reached for Chromia. She threw her weapon forward but before she could get a shot off, he crushed his claws around her arm, crippling her weapon. Then he snatched her into the air as well.

"I've had enough of this." He spun around to kick down Optimus with a powerful blow to his face. "Until next time. Au revoir!" His rockets exploded with power and he raced into the air yet again.

Another crushing blow. Metal thunk down into the concrete suggesting just so.

Moans and cries and confused hums from the humans hung in the atmosphere as the chaos finally died. Getting himself back to his feet, Optimus looked around to survey the damage. He turned a weary head towards Ironhide who was limping towards him.

"Optimus? What do we do now?" Urgency was laced in his voice. But on all accounts it seemed worse than that.

"We can't give up."

"Finding our foes weakness." Ratchet mumbled to himself as he picked up the chunk of head that had been lobbed off. He blinked while looking it over. Then, his brow like structure furrowed. "This is a mangled mess." His optics shot up to Optimus.

"Perhaps we need to be stronger!" Ironhide growled. "Jetfire's parts." He suggested.

"It's risky. True they are more powerful but remember it requires an even greater power than what Optimus can sustain for long periods of time." Ratchet stepped forward. Prowl shook his head.

"Regardless, it's impractical! With our injuries, our time, the location of Diego Garcia being in the middle of the Indian Ocean guarded by a defense network set up for fighting off Decepticon attacks, there is little probability we would even make it there alive. Let alone to break in and retrieve the parts."

"What's our chances."

"I have yet to run through all the calculations, but so far I have zero percent probability." A rush of frustration. Prowl thought back quietly.

"He's taking them alive." Ratchet spoke quietly, again mostly to himself. "He has every avenue to destroy us but he hasn't. If that's the case then Jolt and Hound may still be alive as well!"

"And now he has Chroma."

"Right. There is a chance that Arcee and Chroma's powerful mind link can direct us to where he's hiding."

A spark of optimism in the Prime's optics. But then- "Where is Arcee?"

"Stasis lock." Ratchet muttered gravely. "She's stabilized but I don't know how long she'll be out."

"So now it's a waiting game?"

While the big bots discussed their attempted strategies Bumblebee looked for his downed friend. A cluster of humans was telling.

"Look at that." A man exclaimed while approaching the pink robot lying motionless on the ground. He as well as a cluster of many other people slowly approached the thing. They soon frantically back peddling when a smooth thunk of heavy robotic parts came strolling towards them. The humans cowered behind a worn out soldier who survived his crash landing. There was a soft groan when the robot's head swiveled slowly to look the humans over. Bumblebee was paying special attention to the soldier. The man wasn't armed but Bee was careful not to provoke panic. Bumblebee then reached Arcee's side. Finally tearing his gaze away from the humans, he knelt down to carefully pick her up. With the greatest gentleness he could muster he rolled her into his arms. Her hand twitched as he started lifting her off the ground. A glance back to the humans while they stared on. They were still frightened so Bumblebee made no attempt to communicate with them. With Arcee securely in his arms he turned away to regroup with the others, his body thunk to each footstep he took.

"Bumblebee. In here." Ratchet ordered. With a ticking his chest rotated around, wheels swiveled down, and with more moving motions a neon Humvee started to emerge. The panels clicked into place along his side, then the back and top opened giving Bumblebee room to move her in without loosing carefulness.

With the task done, Bumblebee gave one last lingering look over the injured people and destruction around them.

"We can't stay here. Let's move out." Optimus gave a weary order. The other vehicles started rolling ahead. Bumblebee's gaze finally dropped. He turned and transformed and rolled out with the rest of them.


	30. Old Friends

**Ch 30**

Old Friends

Forget being a lamb lead to the slaughter. This is more like the spoiled little child who drags her poor hapless animal around the neck, near strangulation, to all of her misadventures. Or in this case 'his' as it was Simmons who seemed to have Sam by the scruff. Currently Simmons was off in his own divulging world. Piles of paperwork and files were scattered before him and spilling over into Sam's side. What ever Simmons was working on, Sam didn't know or really care at this point. The only thing that was really tugging on his attention was the whispers and shady glances that were cast his way. He pulled his sweater hood up higher to conceal as much of his face as he could and wrapped his arms around himself defensively. It was far too stuffy for such a sweater but at this point, he didn't really have a choice. Or did it really matter, the subject of whispers already confirmed that everyone on this airplane knew of his existence by now.

Trying to find a way to roll himself up into a tiny invisible ball on the narrow seats Sam glanced down to see Simmons scribble down words and notes in the yellow notebook. The same notebook that the first twelve or so pages were decorated by Sam's madness. His brows furrowed. He was getting bits and pieces of memory back but nothing that seemed to make any sense.

He was writing something. Formulating. Math equations. His mind pulsed with a flashback. Blurry and distorted, the only thing that seemed to make sense were the words that were getting smeared down before him. No, they didn't make sense. They were alien, he barely could read them, if he did at all. He remembered a clear window and the room that looked into where the AllSpark was once housed. Not the same room where Sector Seven demonstrated the cubes power, a different room. The window was larger, it was a hallway. Numbers, coordinates, something wasn't right. It was corrupt, it was- It was worse than that. It wasn't just the AllSpark thinking through him in some strange added on subconscious that was feeding him these numbers. It was berserk. It was controlling him. It was demanding him to-

A cough from the isle seat near him stirred him out of his wild memory. But only briefly, his eyes narrowed once more. It wasn't like before. He couldn't put his finger on it before, and he certainly couldn't put his finger on it now, but it just wasn't he same. The AllSpark in his head wasn't the same. It was as if it was fighting something off. Fighting off corruption. Sam shifted in his seat trying to pin what exactly this feeling of corruption was. Voices? No. But it seemed, like many- Thoughts? No. It was just- many. Many what?

Sam growled and brought his hand up to smash the frustration in his face. Nothing made sense. And then there was Simmons suggesting that he had gone completely crazy last night. Oh great, this guy, who even the previous Secretary of State admitted to being funny in the head, thinks _he's _the insane one!

A woman's voice rumbled through the speakers overhead. A relief that he'd only have to bare twenty more minutes of being cramped in this tiny compartment with all eyes watching him with their disturbed gazes. Those twenty minutes wouldn't come fast enough!

From plane to rental car. He was on a road trip he didn't want to be a part of. He did not like the company of whom he was traveling with and simply wished that all his problems would just disappear. They weren't going to any time soon if ever! The car then pulled into a big box store parking lot. Sam didn't know why they were there. Of all places this was the _last _place he'd want to go. There were far too many people here. The lot was packed with cars and people wandering about. Then he was filled with dread. Simmons opened up _his _door and hovered over him, expecting Sam to come along.

"What?" Sam squawked in surprise. "No, no no no. I'm not going in there."

"Look kid! I can't leave you alone." It was creepy how that man could shutter his head in a shake and his black eyes could just stay in place.

"I'm not going to go anywhere! I'll just stay here!"

"Let me tell you something! You know those men back there that were going to take you away? Hmm?" His eyes bulged. Sam barely twisted his head up to look at the man. "That wasn't Secret Service kid. That's part of a special branch of the government made to make people disappear. Not like hide disappear either. In your case, they knew it was only a matter of time before your alien friends would come back to check up on you. They were going to use you as _bait! _Now. You're a target! Everybody from here to Pasadena knows where you are. Which means, I can't let you out of my sight!"

Sam sat wide eyed at that. Swallowing hard he nodded. "Okay." He tried to say but it came out as a muffled click of air.

Soon Sam found himself standing around a middle of a busy store. Simmons was at the counter paying cash for a Trak phone. Yeah, cash. Along with those little plastic cards of minutes. After all, Simmons needed access to a phone without it being traceable. Right now Sam missed his phone. He was dying to know what was going on with Mikaela. He tried to tell himself many times over that there wasn't a whole lot he could do about the sudden situation, yet he couldn't push her out of his mind. Would she be pissed at him? But he didn't get a choice! Then an even darker thought crossed over him, did the Secret Service or whoever take her for questioning? What if he never saw _her _again! Oh shit! What if she's now used for bait! The thought drew his eyes up wide, which granted him access to all the crazed gazes that were cast his way. He stiffened and turned away from them. A new thought entered his mind. The dry bitter taste of what it was like to be an outcast. Never before did he feel this out of place. Before he was a wanted fugitive too afraid to show his face, now he was an outcast too afraid to show his face. Inevitably those thoughts made him think of Bumblebee. Oh he heard the talk. It was all over the place from since the airplane trip, here and anywhere in between. Bumblebee was now a wanted fugitive and before this whole mess exploded he was an outcast who couldn't dare show his face. Why? Because of all the terror people would succumb to. So standing there like an idiot in the middle of a store he didn't want to be in, he wanted to scream his rage out at the top of his lungs. Instead, his mouth muscles clenched tightly as his weary eyes glared at all the people around him. Especially those who glared back. He was passive, constricted and quiet. He nearly gave the look of death when Simmons strolled up behind him, as if nothing was amiss to tell them they could head out.

So they did. Yet it was nothing Sam deemed important. Simmons was busy yammering away on his newly bought phone for hours on end. Sam just wanted to go home. He didn't even know why he was here anymore.

"Simmons." Sam took the brief opportunity at a pause between one phone call to the next. He was relieved when he caught the man's attention. "I want to go back and find Mikaela."

"Not happening." There wasn't even a pause to think about it.

"Simmons!" Sam growled in protest.

"Look, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, I need you," a bony finger pointed, "to be patient for a couple more hours."

"What could be so important that you have to drag me across the country like this?" Yeah. Sam was pissed. His sentence came out flawlessly.

Black eyes studied the boy for a moment. "You'll see. But first, like I said before, we need to talk to an old friend of yours."

Sam gave Simmons a confused and incredulous look, if only for a moment. He hadn't really been paying attention to where Simmons was driving, but now the car was slowing down. His eyes drifted to the window to catch a large sign perked up in a layered rock pile base. The car stopped behind a large chain fence. Wait what? They were just driving through a park. Weren't they? Studying the fence he saw that it was topped off with razor wire and there were guard posts where little ants of people strolled about inside them. Beyond that was a huge building with an even larger complex behind it. It looked immaculate. Sam's jaw dropped. They had just driven through a park, so this seemed so, odd. Especially since, as his eyes grazed the words: The U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners.

Sam rolled the sign's words over his lips before speaking. "What friend?" His eyes shot back to Simmons.

"Lennox." Simmons muttered in a duh' fashion. When his permission cleared, the gate drew open to accept them. Inside they stepped out of the vehicle. Simmons took a long look about.

In utter and baffled confusion Sam stepped out as well and followed Simmons through the front gate. Barely past the front entrance Simmons announced his intent.

"I need to see William Lennox." Simmons strolled up to the inside receptionist like area. The guard glanced up from his TV and stared at Simmons.

"Visiting hours are closed." He muttered dryly if not sarcastically.

"Oh." Simmons exclaimed but tapped his finger irritatingly on his desk. "Okay. Maybe we should just leave then. Right Sam?"

_What? _Sam stared at Simmons. It wouldn't be until after he died before Sam could figure this guy out. Then the guard edged a glance at the boy, his eyes suddenly shot open like saucers and latched up at Simmons face.

"Is this some sort of joke!" The guard jumped nearly to his feet.

_Ah yes. By the scruff of the neck._

Simmons plastered a huge fake smile on his face, "Oh yeah, it's _real _funny, in'n it?." His smile wiped clean off. "You know what's not funny, we have an alien invasion going on out there, and the _one guy _who knows the who and how, is locked up and forbidden to help save the world! Now, you want to play cute with me?"

The guard stammered, then caught his words. "I need to see some ID."

Simmons cocked his head slightly. "Sure." Simmons braced himself over the man's ledge and presented his badge. Still wide eyed, the man frantically nodded his head.

"Wait? Jus- what?" Sam stepped up behind him. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"No, you just? What? You get your 'do anything' badge back?"

"Kid." Simmons playfully verbalized the word. "I have more fingers and toes in all the pies of the US government, you would not believe!"

Sam furrowed his brow, glanced down at the badge and then shot his now farther confused eyes at Simmons.

"What? You didn't really think we got through the Jordan border just because I told them I was from New York did you?. Come o'n!" For once, Simmons seemed to be smiling earnestly. Then like it never happened his face turned psychotically serious and he demanded one thing from Sam. "I need you to stay put."

Before Sam even got the chance to protest, Simmons spun on his heel and walked past the buzzing door.

"Hey wait! What happened to, you couldn't let me out of your sight?"

Simmons took a momentary pause to glance at Sam then shot a glance at the guard. "Ah, you'll be fine."

The door then shut. With sweat beads plastered on his forehead and his face portrayed the dire look of a rabbit in headlights, Sam slowly glanced at the guard. He winced when the guard had him in an established stare.

"So what's going on out there?" The guard asked earnestly.

"I-um, I honestly don't know." Sam's voice cracked as he drew up his hand to rub the back of his neck. The guard then tilted the TV screen he was watching to share.

* * *

The door lock snapped open, and Simmons was allowed into the room. Stepping in, Simmons nodded seemingly to himself. The man tethered to the hospital bed slowly crooked his head to look. With his escort dismissed Simmons turned back to face Lennox.

"Simmons?" Lennox pursed out of his lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I was actually about to ask you- the same question."

Lennox scoffed at the question. "Been wondering that myself. I guess this is the thanks I get for all my hard work." Simmons's eyes widened briefly and he found himself nodded in understanding. Lennox fought against his restraints before asking his next question. "What's going on out there anyway?"

"Lots of stuff."

"Like?"

"Well, for starters, your foof, foof alien friends are back. Along with some not so friendly ones."

"Megatron?"

Simmons took a long stare at Lennox before grabbing a chair to put into place. "Not yet. Maybe not for a little while. That doesn't mean however, that we aren't in danger. Know that big bad and ugly you thought you killed? Not dead. In the meantime, COINTELPRO along with a few other branches of the above top secret part of the government is trying to require the means for testing on the NBEs again."

"I thought we worked through that!"

Simmons shrugged. "Yeah well, I got the alien possessed kid, in my possession. Only because they were going to use him as bait. Then they were going to use his little girlfriend, except I think the Cons got to her first."

Lennox drifted back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

"Yeah." Simmons hummed.

"Damnit Galloway!" Lennox muttered under his breath with a growl. "After Egypt he managed to spin the whole thing against us! He convinced the President that if the kid hadn't resurrected Optimus, all the Transformers would have left!"

"What about all the stuff we did!"

Lennox scoffed. "He's pleading the fifth. That since he wasn't there, he won't say anything about how we saved the world." Lennox sighed. "Everything was going fine until he showed up!" He ground his jaw and then thought back. "Well maybe not, but _better _at least. I guess some people were furious about the requests Optimus was working for and getting. Not giving up information on how to create their weapons was just the top of the iceberg. Some of those people wanted nothing more than to reduce them into science experiments. I even heard rumors that a few people tried to resurrect Sector Seven. You know anything about that?"

"Not my cup of tea, but I got the impression that Galloway was willing to cater to those people."

"Great." Lennox took a stern fix at the ceiling. "So now what?"

With out a beat Simmons pulled out a pen and a small pad of paper. With a click the pen announced for Lennox's attention.

"I need to get someone into Washington. We need to get the president's attention directly. I was thinking, maybe your second in command?"

"Who? Epps?" Lennox chuckled humorlessly. "Did you try Leavenworth?"

Simmons brow furrowed for a moment. "The maximum security prison?"

"For Military? Yeah. The one and only."

"For what?" Simmons bellowed out incredulously.

"Take a wild guess. They refused to go after the Autobots. Article ninety. I'll probably be joining them soon. Soon enough. At least to take a guess as to why I'm here."

"I had assumed! That it was because you let the boy spout out classified information to the media."

"Yeah well, that too."

"Well, this isn't encouraging. Hm. Well. Then, I need your contact information of _everyone _you know! And I do mean, everyone."

* * *

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't." Sam snapped back to the guard.

"Aren't you friends with them though? I mean, I was kind of rooting for you guys."

"No," Sam closed his eyes and forced down a buildup of a frustrated headache, "they took all my stuff. My phone, my laptop, I don't have any way to communicate with them. I don't know why they came back. Last I know I was talking to Bee, while he was almost getting himself killed, and some government a'holes tried to kidnap me."

The guard looked blankly at Sam for a moment. His eyes then lit up with realization.

"That would probably explain this then huh?" The man nodded to the TV. Sam twisted his head quickly, to gesture that he didn't have the time. The man then elaborated. "The news has been going on like this all day today."

On the small screen was recaps abound. Apparently ever since last night, holy hellfire and media blackouts were abound. Sam furrowed his brow and leaned in closer.

"They said that last night eleven comets came blasting down. They don't know where they landed. Figure the military does though. That's it. Nothing until this morning when I guess six or so broke out in a tizzy. Nobody got hurt but people are-"

Sam raised his hand and shushed the man while he tried to listen to the small speakers. It wasn't clear at this point, but somehow there was a small band of Autobots getting themselves knee deep in headlines. That band just happened to be lead by the one and only _black, _weird, Bumblebee. He and the twins went cruising around investigating a hit and run incident. It was clear the media was baffled as to why. And it most certainly didn't make sense to Sam. Of course, none of this made sense to Sam except that if he was to be taken as bait-

_oh no._

Could it be that Bumblebee, upon finding out that Sam was going to be taken put himself in danger to find him? Then the image of the hit in run vehicle was featured. A pretty familiar government vehicle was crumpled up and scuffed unnaturally in the shot. That made all the blood drain from his face. The guard noticed Sam shaking his head before Sam did.

"What?"

"I think I was supposed to be in that car."

"The one that was hit?"

"It wasn't hit." Sam muffled himself with a thought, then louder as the thought cleared. "It was attacked! Where's Simmons! I need to talk to him!"

The second Simmons stepped back through the door he could not escape the frantic gaze that was laced in Sam's eyes.

"What?" He stopped at a standstill having a near flashback of Sam's frenzied eyes a night before. "Oh no."

"Simmons, where's Mikaela!"

"Oh." He breathed a minor breath of relief, but only just minor. "I don't know."

"Did Barricade take her!"

"Kid, I don't know enough whether to say or not!" Assuming that 'barricade' was a Decepticon. It wasn't a stretch to think so.

"We have to find her!"

Simmons growled under his breath. This was exactly what he didn't need. "We can't! We got bigger fish to fry!" Poor choice of words. They nearly threw Sam into a piranha like frenzy.

"Bigger fish! Bigger _fish! _Have you _ever_-"

"Kid!" Simmons shouted down the boy. "Listen to me, and listen closely. The only ones who are going to do a damn thing against the Decepticons are your friends. Not us! You want to take on a big bad Decepticon by yourself, you go right ahead! Lemmie know how that goes for you. We need. To do, what we can. To help them. You! Have to stay. Focused." His two pointer fingers swooped together to draw Sam's eyes to a single point. It didn't work. Sam's glared past them at Simmons's face.

Sam shook his head blankly. "I shouldn't have left."

"If you had then they would have gotten you. And it'd be _all _over." Simmons howled out the last bit in an outraged air of defiance. Sam went quieter. Simmons sighed in defeat. He really hoped it didn't have to come to this for a while. "There was nothing you could've done."

Sam drifted into staring out into space. A egregiously long time passed by before Sam was able to pick him self up mentally.

"Help them how?" Sam started up in a backed up thought.

"Good." Simmons nodded his head and muttered to himself. He was glad that Sam was staying on the same page. He then took a step and pushed Sam towards the door. "I'm waiting for a package. I need you to look at it. Oh, and it shouldn't drive you insane like the last thing I needed you to look at." Sam cast him a worried look. "No, it'll be fine."


	31. The plan

_Okay first of all. I'm just going to sneak this chapter in as IF I hadn't been hiatus for about half a year now or so. Shhhhhhh. You didn't notice! Anyway.. last and final rendition of Live Action Transformers out NEXT month! Whoooo so either it will actually be good, or our childhood heroes will be savaged forever and utterly. I'm thinking the later but I"M trying to be optimistic here! That said, obviously from what knowledge I gained, this is NOT going to be a bridge in story. (as I suspected anyways but shesh1 It almost seems like they stole all my good ideas from me T_T. Though it's not as if those ideas were a far stretch to come up with. So I will try and get this story up and ending before next month..but as you can see my time has fallen sharply short._

* * *

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**Ch 31**

The plan

The morning light just peered over the horizon. They were still on the road. Sam stirred groggily but his dried, inflamed eyes continued to burn out past the window. He did not get anything more than a few minutes sleep in throughout the night. To his left, Simmons fared better. Then again he had a few hours sleep in the car and wasn't haunted with the fear that the girl of his dreams who finally said 'I love you' to him had been ran off the road by an evil cop car who had a vicious temper. That the vehicle she was in was ripped apart, the men who took her were killed and she was wrenched out screaming and terrified. Again, taken by and evil cop car robot who had a vicious temper. Noting that Sam's mood hadn't improved any with the encroaching light, Simmons cast a weary glance over to his passenger. Sam was staring off into festering space. He gulped, wretched his hand on the steering wheel and cleared his throat.

"Look." That was as far as he got before he had to pause to think through what he was going to say next. "I'm sure she'll be just fine."

Sam ground his jaw together. "No. She is not just fine! You don't know what it's like to be taken by Barricade. She is not fine!"

Simmons blinked at Sam. "But you're alive."

"That's only because Bumblebee was there to save my ass!" Sam spat again.

"Yeah but. He's there now." Simmons returned his gaze to the road. "He's looking for her. He'll find her."

"Yeah maybe." Sam sunk back into burning holes in space with his eyes. Another dreadful minute passed. Then Sam threw a deadly glare at Simmons's direction. "That's not why they're here though, is it." Simmons's black eyes dodged back at Sam before returning their vice grip to the road. "I mean, I don't know. Just coming back after a couple of people, to get all those helicopters and people after them? There's something more to this isn't there?" There wasn't much questioning in his voice. Sam was demanding to know what was going on.

Simmons continued to look straight ahead. He then slowed the vehicle on the side of the road and snapped the lever under the steering wheel into park. "Yeah." He continued to stare ahead. "There's something to this."

Simmons popped the car trunk open and stepped out. Sam followed. At the back of the car Simmons grabbed a decent sized container out from the trunk. In hand, he shut the hood with an elbow and dropped the box down. Fumbling with the locks they popped open simultaneously with a louder than expected click. He flung open the lid revealing a velvety interior with something wrapped in the center. Without as much care as he should, Simmons pulled out an orbital device from under the cloth. He held it out for Sam to see. Sam squinted at it trying to make sense of the yellow, red and metal streaked sphere of glass.

"You know what this is?" Simmons held it up high for Sam's gaze. His handling caused pieces to flake off. Sam shook his head. "You should! You disabled one and restarted another."

"It's a spark." Sam's eyes light up in realization.

"That's right. The source of all their power. Their non biological functions all stem from this _one_part. Some have it in their heads, most in their chest. And this one, in a box. Now, this. This was the one ripped out of that Transformer's chest." Then the spark was plopped back down into it's container. "The one that nearly destroyed your car. Well guess what. He's the reason why your friends came back." Simmons caught the confused look on Sam's face. "That's right. He's not dead yet."

"How could he-"

"Well by my count, there are currently two NBEs still functioning after their sparks have been disabled." He then sounded out the word prominently. "Two." Sam shook his head slowly.

"No. That's not the same." He protested. Simmons stared at him to counter the claim. "I mean, that was with, with ancient alien technology, and artifacts, and stuff- even they don't understand. But one thing was adamantly clear. After, the whole Megatron, resurrection thing, Bee told me- there needs to be a spark! Simmons! There is no way this guy could function without a spark!"

"Well he is!"

Sam scoffed.

"Look. The way I figure it, there just needs to be another power source of some sort."

"But Simmons! It's not just, like their power source. It's their whole being. It's who they are! Like- their personality! Everything that-"

"Well then you explain it!"

Sam gaped for a moment. Gaped for an explanation that came to him like water to a land stranded fish. "I can't-"

Simmons scoffed incredulously. He then glared back at Sam. "You got that thing, in your head that's trying to tell you something! Why don't you try listening to it eh?" Simmons clanked his elbow down onto the car as he stared into Sam's eyes. With an accusatory digit, "I cannot stress this enough how important it is for you to figure out how to stop this thing." His eyes then snapped back to the box. He latched the locks once again, fumbled with the keys then shoved it back into the trunk. He then strolled back towards the driver's seat.

"No pressure." Sam growled to himself. He then reluctantly made his way back to the passenger side of the car. "So now what?" He demanded. Simmons ignored him and busied himself with restarting the car. Sam held his throbbing head, but this time, it was a headache present from having to deal with Simmons. With a huff of contentious air, his mind quickly returned back to his worry over Mikaela.

He needed to know if she was okay. Nothing else mattered at the present. And being in Simmon's presence right now, it burned him. It grated him that he was helpless to do anything. And that somehow, magically he was supposed know all the answers when Simmons wouldn't even bother to tell him anything beyond the stupid need to know basis.

Listen to the AllSpark.

What does that even mean? He could feel the muscles in his jaw tighten again. He licked his lips and thought about it. Listen to the Allspark. For once he wished something would dance in front of his mind telling him what to do. To give him a map, a direction! English would be preferable. Alas the only thing that he could really seem to focus on right now was Mikeala. He tried to inhale but the emotions clamped his chest down like a vice. Stupid AllSpark. Stupid half-hassed ability to see stuff. How about something useful for once! His elbow propped up on the door and his finger and thumb grasped his lip and jaw. His dry eyes glared over at Simmons who was doing his best to pretend he was the only one in the car. A glint from a spark flake on Simmons jacket caught Sam's attention. He blinked and brought his gaze back to the window. Still alive? How. His mind sunk into space while so many thoughts and questions came to his mind and he wasn't sure anymore which one to address first. Those discombobulated thoughts haunted him for hours to come. It wasn't until they reached a small road side gas station- slash- restaurant before Sam snapped out of it. Pulling into the parking lot on the side of the building Sam looked around. If it wasn't for gas, why were they here?

"So. What are we doing now?" Sam asked dryly.

Simmons locked the car into park. "Wait here." He demanded, got out and took the box in the trunk with him. As the trunk slammed Sam rolled his eyes and grumbled swears under his breath. More of the same of being dragged from place to place with no apparent reason as to why. His eyes flicked around but paused when silver glinted and caught his attention. Sam's eyes burned at the ignition switch. Simmons left the keys. It was tempting. Glancing around he looked to see if Simmons was in sight then, back to the keys. His eyes narrowed, he half had the temptation to just drive off. But given a second, he decided the radio would suffice for now. With a growl Sam turned the ignition to battery and popped on the radio. It warbled to life. It was everything he had come to expect in the last few days. Music was sparse, every station and everyone was more concerned with babbling on about giant alien robots rather than mundane life. Sam resumed his position of a propped up elbow on the window with his chin wrapped up in thought. More time drifted by and Sam made a commotion to roll down the window to get some air into the car. More sitting. What was taking Simmons so long? Movement from the corner of his eye jerked his attention to the side mirror. A car crossed into it's path. Sam flinched at the sight of the black paint and tinted windows. He turned around to look, but the car was out of sight. Carefully and somewhat quietly, Sam popped open the door. He slowly glanced around the corner of the building to see the car slip around the far side of the building. Glancing around wearily Sam trotted towards the other end. As he crept up, he strafed the wall and carefully glanced around this corner. His head quickly retreated back when he heard a voice.

"Do you have it?" The voice sounded oddly mechanized. It however didn't mask that whom ever was speaking was female.

"Of course." Simmons gawked back. "And you?" Sam crept back and established a careful watch on the two. The woman was shrouded in black. A scarf. Black oversized sunglasses. He saw her nod.

"Let's see it." Simmons and the woman both said it at the same time.

Simmons scoffed. "Yours first!"

"This isn't a game of show and tell Mr. Simmons."

"Oh I know. I know, all about telling. And showing! And things your not supposed to show and tell. Like secret government information!"

She twisted back in annoyance, but then decided to take a more humored approach. "Well, the word is out now, isn't it. Are we going to make the trade or not?"

"Hm. Yeah." Simmons then lifted his arm to grab the box with his right hand. "On three?"

"I want to see it."

"Right here!" Simmons extended the box and motioned it in an up and down motion.

"Open it!"

Sam couldn't see Simmons's face, but he just knew he was rolling his eyes at her.

"Here." Simmons pulled the spark out of the velvet wrap. He held it up to her.

She looked at it, then glared at Simmons while reeling back. "You're a real piece of work." She then abruptly turned away towards the drivers side of the vehicle. "This was your big thing? I thought you had a world to save!" Simmons stood staring at her in alarm but mostly in that strange wide eyed stare he did.

"Where do you think your going!" Simmons then took a step towards her stopping her.

"A fake. You brought a fake. Out of all the-"

"What? You think this is a trap! Lady! If we get caught I'm in just as much trouble as you are. I'm not talking about my job either! Life! In a federal penitentiary. Or death. You think you're the only one who's life is on the line here!"

Her eyes snapped at Sam, before Sam even reacted she snapped out a weapon.

"Whoa!" Simmons jumped back throwing his hands in the air. The box thunked and toppled on the ground tossing it's contents out onto the tar. It rolled around slowly in it's own flakes of alien glass metal. It took Simmons a millisecond to recognize the gun wasn't aimed at him. He turned his head back.

"Sam?" Sam at this point stepped out looking more rabbit in the headlights than usual. "I told you to wait in the car!"

"You were to come alone!" The woman snapped.

Simmons looked back at her. "So were you!" He was making mention of a dark shadowy figure hidden behind the tinted windows in the back seat of the vehicle.

"The deal's off Simmons!"

"What?" He then took brisk and urgent step towards her. He quickly halted when the gun trained on him. "The deals not off!" Then as if it didn't feel like this was coming across urgently enough, he screamed at her. "The fate of the world depends on that weapon! You are not going to walk away with it!" She took a retreating step back. Despite the voice masking and the shrouding materials that hid her face she looked frightened and vulnerable now. "Agent X!" Simmons called out to retain her attention.

"You're Agent X?" Sam questioned rapidly. The gun returned to him. "Whoa, no no no." Sam surrendered. He then stared at her. The fascination with the name was more powerful than the fear of the gun. "Agent X? You're the guy- er you're the one who was giving Leo that information?" He blinked and realized he needed to clarify. "The Transformers? You know, aliens? Leo. Leo Spitz. I'm his roommate. You know? The guy-"

"Kid! Not a good idea!"

"What? Not a? What? Say's you?" Sam snarled. He glared at Simmons. "No, you know wasn't a good idea! Going along with you! Alright? Getting caught up in this- as if it wasn't bad enough. You have been dragging me around- Not telling me anything!"

"Sam!" Simmons snapped. His eyes darted to the gun. Sam didn't read the message.

"It's him." She relaxed.

"Kid." Simmons gritted slowly from between his teeth. "I'm not armed right now. You _do_ see a problem with that don't you!"

Sam's breath tightened. Then took a step towards her, his hand up defensively but showing he was unarmed.

"Look. Maybe I can help."

"Sam!" Simmons bellowed again.

"I just need to know what's goi-"

"Look you little-" Simmons snarled and grabbed him. Armed weapon be damned. But that motion resulted in an unintended consequence. Sam snapped.

"Hey! No! I'm sick of this shit!" Sam shoved Simmons back. "I am so sick of being dragged all over the country by you! Don't you little shit me! You are the one who is using me like a pawn. At least with her, I know what she's trying-"

"OH come on! You don't know anything!"

"I know one thing-" Sam took another step to enclose upon Simmons. The snap of glass broke under Sam's feet. Before he could say more a rush of light, humidity, sounds, voices, and an encompassing surge of utter shock washed over him.

Startled Sam froze, then turned slowly to look around him. The yellow light was blighting and the edges of his peripheral view seemed blurred. The gush felt red in color. He blinked while shaking his head in confusion. His mind quickly jumped to likening the experience to the one where he met the Primes. But this wasn't it. For one, this hardly seemed like some magical box canon where towering titan gods hovered over him. There were robots, but nothing he perceived as remarkable. Not anymore by Sam's account. And not a rocky canon. It was a building. A large spacious building that wasn't even completed yet. Man made. There was something else there too. Not in what he was seeing, but feeling. But he couldn't explain what the sensation was. Many- somethings. Whatever it was, they seemed threatened or fascinated by him. He choked and stumbled, but at the same time, felt out of body. Then beyond his control the vision made a sweeping pass across the room. It was as if looking through someone else's eyes. Sam saw something that made his heart stop. Mikeala! Alive! He felt himself trying to shout for her, but the haze opened up, and past it, he saw Simmons armed with a syringe. Sam stumbled again, and this time, felt his legs go woozy under him.

Balancing out just as whatever he saw dissipated completely, Sam screamed at Simmons. "Stay away from me with that!" Sam stepped back. He looked around. Agent X was watching him carefully. So was Simmons. Immediately Sam checked his nose for blood. There was droplets. Alarmed and his head throbbed harder now, but he was still him. "I'm okay, don't tranquilize me! Okay?" Then more somberly he asked, "what just happened?"

Simmons shook his head. Sam looked down at the ground to see the spark his foot brushed up against was pulsing. "Whoa!" Sam jumped back. The flaking pieces moved seemingly trying to crawl back into place. Or something like a a time lapse with ice melting or forming. Whatever he saw, it was very disconcerting.

"Not real, huh? Looks pretty real to me!" Simmons gawked. Twisting his vision from the spark he looked back up at Sam. Sam had his mouth braced up by his hand. He came across Simmons's gaze. Sam backtracked.

"I- I'll go wait in the car. Sorry." He looked at Agent X. "Sorry." He quickly retreated back to the vehicle. Just as he reached the car door handle, his ears caught the streaming radio coming through the open window. Sam froze. He choked on his emotions while he listened to the initial words spoken. That another alien attack had just been confirmed.

* * *

The ironic way to put it, was that the humans were more livelier than usual. Ironic, because one of them finally succumb to the stress and lack of resources to keep his body functioning. He was in the center cell, of course, where the people were generally worse off. The cell connected to the bathroom the people were busy carting water in bundled up wads of clothing to the invisible wall. There the drenched garment was then rung out. The water that didn't evaporate from the sting of the force field dribbled to the center cell where it was dabbed up by another dirty shirt. The humans were doing what they could to comfort the man who had collapsed. Jolt was sitting cross legged in his cell. His gaze fixed on Hound and his audio sensors on the humans. Then a loud bumbled crash alerted him to his captures return. He jumped to his feet. Before he could gauge much of anything Chroma was tossed into the cell next to him. The one that already housed Mikeala and Leo. She skidded on the floor in a yelp. She quickly got to her wheel and charged the force-field, hitting it before adhering to it's demands.

"Sides!" She screamed.

In a stunned stupor Jolt turned his attention to the giant who was now in front of them. His back was towards him and he couldn't see Sideswipe.

"Don'chu die on me! Don't you dare!" The giants growl and motion with his shoulders was followed by a squabbling yelp from Sideswipe. There were sounds of stretched and snapping tubes and a mechanical saw blade grinding into metal so familiar to Jolt from his time helping Ratchet with wounded. Sideswipe then went into a frenzy of swearing at the beast in his native tongue. Then in a blink of an optic the giant was on his feet and diving through Chroma's cell. His large hand braced her back so that he could deposit a badly injured Sideswipe.

"No-" Jolt whimpered. The giant withdrew out of the force field's occupation and Chroma rushed to Sideswipe's side. Jolt's spark crushed. He buckled down into a crouch looking through the energy wall. In horror he watched as Chroma tried to give what little aid she could to Sideswipe who had a nasty amount of damage just below his chest. Bad enough that he could still bleed out of all his important life sustaining fluids. Jolt then slowly turned his head to look at the Cybertronian. Seeing his face Jolt shrieked and jumped back into the force field. In shock he could only stare at the headless, sparkless monster.

"Jolt?" Sideswipe rolled to his side and saw the blue mech. Jolt glanced to the cell on his right.

"Sides! Primus!" Jolt drifted down to his haunches. The force field still snapped at his back. Behind Sideswipe and Chroma Mikeala stepped out from her corner to access the situation. She turned to look at their captor. "We're all going to die in here." Jolt drifted his head down into his claws.

"That's right!" The giant shrieked at him. "You're all gonna die! As you deserve it! You're gonna die! And I'ma laugh. Laugh! While you all die painfully! You hear me! Shut up you fool!" The last sentence was spoken out in a different tone. Jolt looked up to see the Cybertronian twist around with a sigh. He hovered over Hound for a moment. "You all are slagging fools. No focus. You're surprised how this all turned out!" The Cybertronian reached for his broken head.

"He talking to us?" Sideswipe asked dryly trying to slip up into a sitting position. Jolt was shaking his head slightly.

"Do you see what your rash actions have caused us!" The giant continued seemingly to himself.

"Maybe just to you." Chroma harped humorlessly to Sideswipe.

"No, you don't understand. He carries on conversations with himself with different personalities." Jolt crawled closer to Chroma and Sideswipe. He paused and looked up. "I don't know what's more disturbing. Him. Or what he's going to do with us."

It was no doubt the giant picked up on Jolt's comment because he turned his focus onto Hound. He gave the three Autobots a quick glance then walked around his working table. In silence he spread his arms out and braced the table. One at Hound's head, the other down by his waist as he sunk into thought. Three sets of optics with varying colors of vivid blue studied him. Eventually the giant stood up and when he reached for one of his panels, he shrieked and doubled over in pain. Knocking over panels and tools as he tried to grasp something to steady himself as he vented uncontrollably. He winced harder as his broken chest pieces flared up in red energy. The hole in his chest trying to rebuild or grasp onto something it didn't realize it was missing. In shock his red optics flashed up to the beings before him. For a moment they locked onto the girl. He winced and brought his claws up to his head as if something was screaming into his sensors.

"You!" He snarled. The red blazing optics widened and they stared off at the wall. Below him, the Autobot's dared a glance to see if it was looking at anything in particular. Nothing that they could discern. The energy on the broken chest dimmed away and he caught himself with a shaky huff. Then weakly and clearly he spoke. "You are not as invincible as you think you are! Look what it has cost us!" He screamed out. His claw reached up and grasped at his face to make a point. "I have had enough of this! Enough! It is time someone took control! Enough of this infighting! Enough of this squabbling!" He then glared at the Autobots, rather than looking through them, it was clear he was looking _at _them. "You Autobots have a saying, don't you? 'Til all are one.' Good words to live by. Thanks for the advice." His tone was scored with discontentment. He promptly returned to Hound's operating table.

In festering confusion Jolt watched as the giant organized his tools and once again returned working on Hound's spark. Hound twitched in his unconscious state indicating that he was still alive. For now.

"What the slag is going on here!" Jolt shrieked in frustration.

It took a moment but Sideswipe answered callously. "Isn't it obvious?"

"What?" Jolt rasped and gawked at Sides. Side's stared at him cooly before drifting head head back at the giant.

"He has a weakness."

Jolt scoffed then shrieked, "are you slagging kidding me!" Sideswipe seemed to be disinterested in Jolt's plight. Jolt continued after gawking how his comrade could take this so passively. "In case you haven't noticed, he doesn't have head!"

Sideswipe cast him a wry glance. "Just because his head is damaged doesn't mean his core processing unit got sliced. He could be perfectly functioning as long as it's intact."

"Or spark!" Jolt retorted coldly. Sideswipe rolled his head in conceited irritation that Jolt one upped him.

"Trust me with the Decepticon experiments, I've seen stranger." Chroma came to Sideswipes defense. Which left Jolt utterly speechless. Everyone seemed to be in a totally different universe than him. He stared at his companions in sheer disbelief. The Cybertron then moved towards him. Jolt retreated back while the other two raised their defenses. Jolt's optics darted to the force field wall. Just as the Cybertron was going to pass through it, he'd see if he could make a brake for it. Even if it was a long shot and the ability to pass through the force field was on the Cybertronian alone, he was going to try. But as his feet sprung ready to flee, he was grabbed and shoved back into the electric wall. It zapped him, he winced. Then he was dropped. Since he wasn't expecting it, he collapsed onto his knees. Looking on he saw that the giant placed Hound back into the cell.

"I'm gonna do me some tracking." The giant said as he backed away. He was flexing is claw as if some new power was bestowed upon him. He chuckled. "It's unfortunate this isn't permanent yet." He cocked his head at Hound. Jolt stretched over Hound in a protective manner. "Won't be long though. Oh, and I should also say," he glanced over at Sideswipe, "not too long from now, and I _will_ be invincible! Toodles." He begun his transformation, and jetted out of the building.

PS, to get myself reacquainted with the story, I read through it a few times again. _I couldn't help but be amused by the 'cultural' divide somewhere back in chapter 12. I imagine it going something like this._

*after Sam apparently popped his cherry, as I think his mom puts in in Tf2

So this is The day after it happened.

Message from Bumblebee: I am quite confused. Sam and Mikaela went through procreative procedures last night. Does that mean that in roughly 38 weeks from now there will be offspring?

Judy: Oh god I hope not!

Ron: You mean to tell me, out of all the internet searching you do, and all the porn out there, you haven't figured this out yet?

Message from Bumblebee: I'm sorry?

Ron: I'm going to make a pot of coffee. This could take a while.

_**I know, so freaking random. . I'm sorry **_


	32. Idle Time

_For starters, not that happy with the new robot movie. As I suspected. The whole "Optimus Prime, leader of the peace loving Autobots" continues to be "Optimus Prime leader of the piece loving Autobots". LIKE omfg! The wreckers tortured a Decept to death..and Optimus stood there and WATCHED! WTF! Among other things. Let's leave Earth to punish those humans a lesson! Er...okay. OH look, our planet totally died...All of us should just mill around and pretend like it's no big deal. And somehow we are supposed to believe the Autobots are the good guys for the sole purpose of siding with the humans. Uh, anyone notice what humans are like in Bay's universe! I hardly conciser that sentient! I suppose you could salvage it that Optimus utterly SNAPED at Ironhide's death...but then again that doesn't really count for anything because there was no character focus on any of the Transformers in any of the movies! To see how distraught Prime would have been over his..supposed friends death -well...who knows! I say supposed cuz well, out of the 5 lines Ironhide got per his last 3 effing movies, we're supposed to believe what a close, bonded friendship they have established? Wtf evar! I was going to get to this chapter sooner, but I had to take a month to cool off. In addition, most of this is a dialog chapter which means it's long anyway, and the chapter isn't even going to end because it was getting too long._

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_**Ch 32**_

**Idle Time**

The stress festered in his head like a bad ion storm. For hours he had been subjugated to watching Hound's internals get wretched through, pushing him so far over the edge that Jolt's current attempts to wake him had no affect. Then there was the frenzy against death the humans went through the second the giant left. But now they were passive, unable to fight against something that was so determined to take them all. They had done all they could for the man. Now they sat quietly, huddled in the same storm he was is in. And now, even against Hound's best optimism, the Autobots who were supposed to ever so heroically rescue them, were becoming weaker and weaker at every encounter. Evident by Sideswipe's condition. The fighter whom Jolt secretly feared for his talents writhed on the ground next to him with his metallic guts halfway strewn across the floor.

This storm felt worse. Maybe it was because after finding something to hope for again, it was all for nothing.

"That's as much as I can do for now." Chromia slithered back and tried to dust off the fluids on her hands. The bluish oils were thick, so her efforts were fruitless. "Sorry. Without Arcee, there isn't much I can do medically."

Sideswipe grumbled out an 'at last' comment then glanced at his damage. The twisted metal, sprawling cords and thick oozing liquid that had coated everything in dripping slime caused him to draw his head back with a sickly groan. Venting and now knowing what to expect Sideswipe balanced himself into a sit and then returned focus to his wound. Carefully his digits went into his wound and he fumbled around the organ like metal structures. He grimaced and edged back as his metal digits brushed upon the inflamed pain receptors. Jolt went from staring to wearing a horrified gawk. Sideswipe found a cord that seemingly wasn't attached to anything. More lubricating coolant and energy dribbled off his hand and onto the floor as he found the loose end. He grabbed at the cord and pulled it straight out. It trembled for a second before snapping free in a sickening thwack. Jolt turned gape eyed and dumbfounded in horror. Sideswipe, wincing, regarded the piece for a moment before tossing off to the side and catching himself before falling back. Jolt made a yowl. He grated at Sideswipe's apathetic nature to this whole thing.

"I hope that wasn't something important." Jolt growled in disdain at his counterpart's bravado.

The ribbed hose seeped out its remaining fluids onto the floor. "It would explain why I can't feel my legs." Sideswipe's tone was thin and flat. Cradling the wound with one hand the other reached down to balance himself as he slowly made his way to his feet.

Jolt snapped with a growl. "You just wretched that out of your body!" He wasn't the animated type but his optics livened in display to how freaked out he was.

"Yeah." Sideswipe muttered in an strained and apathetic tone. "It wasn't doing anything anyway."

"Yeah but!" Jolt rasped with a cringe. His optics darted to the humans who were only half mindlessly focused on he robots. He then twisted and returned his gaze to Sideswipe. "Owwww!" Sideswipe merely shrugged. Jolt twisted uncomfortably as his hand clenched near his own thorax as if it was him who was wounded.

After a long moment of uncontrolled gawking at Sideswipe, Jolt returned to his neutral state of staring at the force field. Chromia and Sideswipe surveyed the prison.

Leo's muffled sob caught Sideswipe's attention. He glanced out of the corner of his optic to see a huddled Leo in the corner of his cell. His gaze drifted to Mikeala then to the humans on the other end of the large room. "What's with the humans?"

"Experiments." Jolt muttered dryly. "Or just left to die."

The comment caused an uncomfortable stir. They twitched, eyes darted back and forth then there was body language trying to will away the sickly man with his sickly breaths. One simmered at the truth before bolting to his feet to pace like a wounded and distraught animal. He balked and pressed his fist to his lips in any attempt to avoid going over the edge from panicked to rabid. Knowing that the robots were following them another person addressed them.

"This is usually when he takes them." The voice was shaky. The Autobot's glanced at the speaker to see him indicating the unconscious man. "When they get too sick like this-" he then looked to an area hidden behind the giant's panels, "he takes them back there. That's where he does it. He wait's until we're sick because one time-" he heaved uncomfortably, "one of us nearly escaped." There was a tremendous silence even though the pause lasted less than five seconds. "I don't know- if you can smell it." He was referring to the smell of death.

"Yeah. We can." Jolt mumbled through his face plates. The admission seemed to leave even more humans uncomfortable. They shifted in unease as they dodged glances at Jolt.

Sideswipe and Chromia glanced at each other in confusion.

"Look, any information you can give, it would be helpful." Chromia crouched towards Jolt's cell addressing the people past him.

"Why? It's not like it matters!" The man pacing finally snapped. "We're all going to die in here! What's the," he swore, "point!"

The room would have fallen silent if Sideswipe hasn't scoffed.

"Oh what?" Jolt snapped. He then stormed to his own feet and glared at Sideswipe. "Are you going to save us! In _that_ condition! You think the others are going to come rescue us? That they'll be able to fight him off just because he has some stupid weakness that no one knows how to exploit!" Sideswipe took a long, glaring look at him. Jolt reeled as more outrage over took him. He leveled his voice but his anger made it tremble. "If they had any sense, they'd go back to the damn moon."

"I think you've been hanging around with the Decepticons too long." Sideswipe retorted drawing a disbelieving sneer out of Jolt.

"What does that have to do with anything! Why'd you even bring that up! I don't bring up how you went through and left a human population decimated in your wake of revenge!"

"Excuse me?"

"How dare you call me a Decepticon when you're the one that slagging acts like one!" Jolt was in Sideswipe's face the best that he could get.

Sideswipe cursed then charged at the force field himself. "Well aren't you damn lucky there's a force field between you and me right now!"

"Why? So you can mangle my metal? See! Exactly my point! Threats! That's the best you can do-" Sideswipe was spatting back over Jolt's seemingly unwarranted outburst. But Jolt only screamed out louder in frustration. In the end both were screaming so loudly at each other, neither could be understood. Sideswipe cringed to silence for a moment as a sharp splice of pain ricocheted through his body. Jolt was quick to get in his last word over the silence. "Why don't you just cool off and sit down before you bleed to death all over-"

"_Don't_ tell me! What to do!" Sideswipe roared back grinding his fist as a distraction to the pain.

"No that's right. You don't like taking orders from anyone. Doesn't matter if it means getting yourself killed-"

Sideswipe's armor bulked up as more fury built up before it expelled, Chromia grasped at his arm to distract him. She glared at Jolt.

"Jolt!" Chromia barked with enough ferocity to silence him. "Knock it off!" She snapped her head at Sideswipe. "Both of you!"

The two robots turned furiously quiet. As they grew in anger at each other Leo's muffled cries grew louder in his corner. Leo was rolled up in a ball near the corner trying to will the world out of his mind. He still had tears plastered on his checks and his face was contorted into a stupid expression. Mikeala however, was carefully standing below Chromia. Mikeala _gladly_ opted for robot cellmates rather than Leo. Even if by any standards one of them was direly frightful. Hell she'd nearly take Megatron over Leo. Ever since she first met him, and had to spend grueling hours in the desert with him, she learned that she- really- could not stand him. His same incompetence was blaring even as of now. He whined continuously before about how hungry he was. The other people who hadn't eaten for literally days were quick snap at him. She felt like a total bitch for being so, but that amused her. Likely because she too didn't appreciate going hungry or being without sanitation but she was making it a civil point not to become a whiny little piss ant in spite of them. And it wasn't hours ago that Leo squirmed and danced around like a moron because he had to relieve himself and didn't want to do it in front of a girl. She could only imagine it was over some macho inanity. In the end, in order to avoid peeing on himself, he took to the corner of the force field. Of course without being able to really see it he managed to arc his stream into the field, zapping himself into convulsions and ultimately, ended up putting a stream of liquid all over his pants anyway. He got all the sympathy in the world by the others, particularly the men in the other cell which might have given him relief from his earlier scorning, if he hadn't been unconscious to receive it. The founder of Real Effing Deal would for sure never want anything to do with giant robots ever again! Sam would ever be so relieved.

Jolt had turned away from the force field and begun his habitual pace. He stopped and stared at the ground for a moment before speaking. "He was here by the way."

"What!" Sideswipe snarled at the seemingly left field statement.

"Barricade."

Sideswipe lit up like a bad spark. "Oh. And what did he want."

Jolt shook his head slowly and thoughtfully. "The usual. Lying. Cheating. Deception."

"That all?" The tone was sarcastic.

"No. Of course not. But that's most of it." Jolt nodded to Mikeala and Leo. "He brought them for a reluctant trade. But Barricade and Soundwave tried to get _him _to go after Sam."

"What?" Mikeala balked.

Sideswipe ticked loudly. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know!" Jolt muttered excitedly. "Why didn't they just take Sam themselves?"

"Maybe he was going to. The people who took us were supposed to take Sam but they got us instead." Mikeala motioned to herself.

"No. That's just it. Barricade and Soundwave have been tracking Sam. They were telling this Decepticon here where to find him, along with the device. I just wish I could make sense about what he was babbling on about. He just goes on and on and on about the device. He's been working on that for days." Jolt motioned tot he panels and electronics scattered around, "That's supposed to be his backup and whatever it is, it's what he's been tampering with Hound's spark with it." Then as an after thought, he went down to Hound's side to reexamine his vitals.

"But the Decepticons would have more to gain if the AllSpark still in operation inside Sam's head by taking Sam." Chromia said.

"Right. Which is why nothing about this makes any sense." Jolt finished his examination on Hound's chassis. "He did ask what we did though. Like when he found out Hound was a tracker, he kept talking about how he needed that ability for his repertoire. He kept freaking me out by commenting on my energy. Saying things like it's such a wonderful gift and that he couldn't wait to have it. Is it possible to steal someone's abilities?" Jolt looked for an answer at Chromia and Sideswipe. They shrugged at the idea. Jolt vented.

"Not that I know of."

Jolt shook his head in confusion.

"With the Decepticon experiments I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised." Chromia grated. Jolt and Sideswipe regarded her for a moment. Then Sideswipe twisted back and glared at Mikeala.

"So Barricade took Bumblebee's pets. For bait I assume."

Chromia pulled out of her own festering thoughts and looked down at Mikeala.

"Bait. Why!" Chromia asked.

Jolt shrugged.

"You should know. You're more friends with Bumblebee than I am, aren't you?" Sideswipe asked her. She boiled and looked like a viper in a defensive posture. The only thing missing was a rattle.

"No. Arcee is."

Sideswipe's optic dodged back momentarily in thought on the comment that seemed so strange considering that came from a hive minded sister. He then glanced at Mikeala.

"Well that brings me to another question." Sideswipe then blurted out looking her over. "How the slag did you get into this mess?

Mikeala snorted. And didn't she just say how. "Isn't it obvious."

"No, your right. That was a stupid question. It's obvious. Let me rephrase that for you. How is it you're not dead?"

"Wow, you are just indiscriminately hating on everyone today aren't you." Jolt snapped.

Sideswipe growled.

"Easy!" Chromia demanded.

"Don't worry Jolt, I've dated worse." Mikeala responded with a wry smile. She twisted to glare at Sideswipe who hovered over her. "Oh and by the way, you're welcome, m'you know for saving Optimus's life."

"Wouldn't have happened if he wasn't so busy trying to save your fleshy hides in the first place!"

"Primus, Sides! What is your problem?"

"What do you think my problem is!"

"Knowing you, a lot."

"You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"I know you have issues! And I think you're jealous!"

"Jealous? Of What! Of all the stupid-"

"You are!"

"Why would I be jealous?"

"For starters? Because you don't have any friends."

"Jolt!" Chromia growled. He ignored her.

"Please." Sideswipe hissed.

"Why do I even bother?" Chromia hissed to herself.

"Like I really need friends like you." Sideswipe arched his pointer digit and stabbed at the air towards Jolt. He caught Jolt's subconscious glance to Mikeala. "Or a bunch of sniveling, weak _humans_." The word was tossed out in disdain.

"Yeah. We get it. You guys don't like us." The girl who was known for coming up with mindless games like eye spy as a distraction blurted out.

Her tone surprised Jolt. His tone instantly softened as he regarded her. "I wouldn't say that."

"I would." Sideswipe muttered flatly.

Mikeala snarled under her breath at him.

"Yeah. And that's because you don't like anything!" Jolt retorted.

"That's not true. I love killing Cons."

"Hey. I enjoy slagging cons as much as the next bot, but that's not something I want my whole life being defined as."

"Yeah? Well maybe it should! It's stupidity to befriend these flesh sacks! Think about it Jolt! How many have we lost in the two years of NEST's operation! They can't take a single hit without dying! Hell, all we'd have to do is step on them! It's no wonder they want us off this planet. Did you really think it was worth while to get attached to anything on this planet? Did you? Any of it? You knew it was only a matter of time before they got sick of us and kicked us off this rock! Only a fool like you, or Bumblebee, or Ironhide would think of getting attached. For what! More hurt! More disappointment! There is nothing to be gained from any of this but more pain!" By the time he reached the conclusion of his statement, Sideswipe was screaming in outrage. "Was it worth it! Was any of this pain and suffering worth it!"

The intensity made Jolt pause.

"And who's slaggin idea was it to come back to this mud planet? To play hero to a few billion organics who _don't want_ our help! We get our afts handed to us by something we can't kill! And for what?

See, Jolt. This is why you don't get attached to anything! Your stupid little gardens, Bumblebee's frail companions! Everything you care about, they're going to destroy it! Everything! Do you know what it's like! To have everyone you ever cared about and protected! Wiped out! For no reason at all outside of some megalomaniac freak who slaughters and tortures them all, just for enjoyment? Do you even know what that's like! To have everyone dying around you, and you can't do a damn thing about it! To get hurt like this over and over again! Do you have any idea what it's like to have something like this hang over your head?" Sideswipes projected voice started rupturing and cracking away his anger exposing his pain underneath. Jolt stared past the haze of the force field that was blocking him from Sideswipe. Through the gold blur he noted that Sideswipe was awaiting a response. Jolt blinked slowly and readjusted his optics to look Sideswipe in the eye. Jolt's fiery banter utterly softened out of his voice.

"Yeah Sideswipe, I do."

Sideswipe glared in disbelief. He then heckled in case the look he gave wasn't clear enough.

"You act like you're the only one who's been damaged by this. By them! What do you know? It's not like you ever bothered to ask what happened on the planet I was stranded on! With no atmosphere and a dying sun! Ion storm's Sideswipe. Remember how we'd occasionally be hit by one on Cybertron. How bad they felt. How the surges managed to get into every circuit, every atom and you couldn't do anything to stop that gear wrenching pain! Imagine _that_ being a thousand folds worse with no place for shelter and they never, ever stopped! What that does to you. What it did to them!" Jolt flared energy to his body. "All those bots that were stranded with me! I know what it's like Sides; I watched them all die slow and painful deaths and I was so utterly helpless to do anything about it."

Sideswipe straightened out of his defensive and erratic stance. Jolt vented softly.

"Why? Because my inherent unique abilities that I never wanted?" He looked at his energy in utter disdain. How the giant seemed to think it was such a prize! "This slagging energy manifestation is the only reason I survived! But I still had to deal with with the agony. The only difference was that it didn't kill me off like it did them. Everyone around me, everyone on that ship- Watching them all spasm in agony for so long." He flinched as his memory became too vivid. "I couldn't save them! I couldn't do anything to help them! You're not the only one who's been through this! And I was stuck on that planet with nothing but corpses because I couldn't even escape. It took vorns for the storms died down enough. You know how long I had been alone by that time? I couldn't even remember what it was like to have someone to talk to! I was out of my mind! Do you know what that's like!" His optics then charged to Sideswipes. Jolt then retreated. Recalling the source of animosity between him and Sideswipe. His tone changed. "So yes, when I saw those two Decepticon alt comets pass me, I was so desperate to join them. I was so desperate not to be alone anymore! And on Earth, with Barricade, he would turn on me over the slightest mistake! Over anything! It didn't matter. If it didn't line up with his perfect little thoughts, he made sure I knew it! But I was far more terrified of being alone than anything he could have done to me physically. I took every once of damage just so that I wouldn't have to be alone like that ever again." He drifted off, unknowingly shaking his head as if trying to shrug off the memories. "So it was because of that fear that I believed him when he told me the Autobots would never accept me. So I was stupid for it but I can't change that now!"

"Jolt-" Sideswipe offered out a more consoling tone. Jolt flickered at him briefly.

"I get why you're so upset all the time. I know why you're afraid to bond with anyone. Sides, what happened, with that con, just because you survived doesn't make it your fault. It's- hard to not have any control. To go with what you went through. It _is_ terrifying. Nobody likes to be in that position." His optics sunk to the humans to the left of him. He regarded them carefully before speaking again. "Nobody. And this is where we're at right now." His voice softened even farther looking at the sick man surrounded by all the sickly people. "Listen, this- we need to stop." He then turned his head down bashfully. "The humans are pretty tapped on what they can sustain on these stress levels. I think we got enough out of our system so, maybe we should try and keep it calm. They're not doing so well and I guess-" Jolt fretted and rolled his claws over each other as he became aware of how he had been the main offender.

As Jolt trailed off, Sideswipe nodded his head at them. "Yeah. Sorry."

"No- I- it was me that started it." Jolt blinked. "I don't know. I guess I get sick of you saying how we should never get attached to anyone or anything, or just how, I don't ever seem to do anything right. I guess we all have our issues huh?" He huffed and stared at the ground or mainly at Hound. He knelt down and spoke out again before Sideswipe could answer his question. "Sideswipe, if we do manage to get out of here alive, you have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. It needs to stop or it's going to tear you apart. Or the group. What's left of them anyway." His optics shifted to Sideswipe. It was Sideswipe who was now staring off. But his gaze was burning, not dazed. They shifted and caught Jolt's optics. That burn lay on Jolt's bright blue optics for a time.

"You know," Sideswipe started off slowly, "I was getting attached. To the humans of all things." His pitch changed defeated but firm. "I don't expect anyone to listen to me when I don't even to listen to myself. I _got_ attached. But with what's happened, I can't stand the thought of feeling like I've been betrayed."

Jolt drifted to silence. That silence hung over heard and wasn't disturbed outside of a muffled cough from one of the human prisoners. Jolt nodded.

"I know. But I don't think NEST would betray us like that. Out of everything we've been through together," he was shaking his head, "they wouldn't. They know better. It's everyone else that's the problem."

The two bots nodded to silence. The humans looked on feeling like they were somehow the offenders. With their eyesight gathered on Sideswipe he shifted uncomfortably and then went for a distraction. He spoke out again. This time his tone was back to it's usual cocky pitch and for a moment startled Jolt.

"So what about you Chromia." She blinked and startled as she had been silent through most of their conversation. "Any last will and testament to get off your chest before we kick it?"

She twisted uncomfortably. "No, I think you two said enough."

"Yeah but that's us. What about you?

"Yeah. Come on Chromia. It- actually helps."

"Besides, with the way Ironhide, and Bee and Optimus are tiptoeing over you and Arcee, there's something interesting you're not telling us!"

"And if there is?"

Sideswipe shrugged nonchalantly although he couldn't completely hide his fretted expression.

"Hell why not." Chromia then relinquished after a moment. "But- given the current circumstances, it's not going to be helpful for you to hear it."

"Oh right. What could possibly be worse than this?" Jolt nagged with a brush of humor.

"A brief recant of what exactly happens in a Decepticon experiment."

Sideswipe and Jolt perked.

"You were, in a Decepticon experiment."

"What did they do?" Sideswipe asked.

"Which part would you like to hear first? The bit of what they did to my sisters and I? Or how far the Decepticons absolute disregard for life takes them, which isn't limited to destroying viable protoforms?"

"Protoforms?" Both bots became more animated and obviously upset which baffled the humans who were watching from afar.

"What are protoforms?" A human called out.

The three Transformers looked at each other in discomfort.

"Uh." Sideswipe started.

"I guess," Chromia winced, "for rudimentary purposes, let's just classify them as Cybertronian babies."

"There are not enough words in the human language to explain this." Sideswipe concluded with a shake of his head.

"Wait!" Now the humans were more engaged in the conversation. With the way he was wild eyed while looking over Chromia over all three Autobots twisted and shrieked.

"Oh! No, no no!"

"NO!"

"No! It's not like that!"

"Oh Primus!" Chromia face palmed. Mikeala smirked catching onto the reversal of sexual misunderstanding.

Jolt just chuckled under his vents at more or less Chromia's expense.

"No. We are not capable of reproducing like you. That is why our hatchlings are so rare and precious and why it is uncanny that the Decepticons have taken so many of what remains to use in their experiments."

"So, what kind of experiments?"

"Robots have babies?"

Chromia lowered her gaze to the floor and decided to finally bite the bullet. "Elita-One," she started slowly, "Arcee and Chromia as Optimus and the others know them, are dead. Any who knew them of course recognize the different shells, but they think the sparks are unchanged. Well, they are wrong. When Arcee returned from Cybertron shortly after Trypticon's destruction she was intercepted by Thundercracker and Flatline. They proceeded to destroy Arcee's body but only after preserving her spark. The sparks from the destroyed sisters of Chromia and Elita-One were forced into two protoforms and Arcee's into a third host. They then split her energy to-" She paused in confusion, "you're right Sides, the human language does not have enough words to explain- how to say resuscitate? No," she sunk in thought. "Not resurrect." She then switched into their native language to give them a brief description of the terminology she was looking for. Both Sideswipe and Jolt nodded when they understood what it was the Decepticon had done. They too were then stumped at finding an English, or any other language, equivalent.

Jolt looked to the humans as he fumbled for words. "I guess, stolen life. Stole life and well, stole two lives if they removed the protoforms' own."

"Six." Sideswipe interjected. "The three protoforms and the three Autobots."

"But if two were already dead-" Jolt trailed off as the lighting down his spine was replaced by shivers. Just as well, for Chromia continued her story.

"-They then tried to destroy Arcee's mind and wipe the sparks' memories clean. To make their Decepticon warriors with mental capacities above drones, but to remove their autonomy. They were obviously unsuccessful. But at the heart of it all, the one now called Arcee- is just a clone, so I guess that makes me a clone of a clone. If even that."

"This whole time, that's what you've been afraid to tell us?"

"We didn't want our personal history to become an issue."

Jolt gawked in dumbfound. "I don't think it would have."

"Right. Not having an identity of our own wouldn't cause any conflict I'm sure. Especially to those who knew them."

"So instead you lied to them?"

"Not lied. With held truth."

"You're wrong." Sideswipe shook his head. "You're not a clone."

"That's nice of you to say-"

"No! I'm not just saying it. You can ask any one of us and we'll tell you since war started, we've seen some very strange slag. I can tell you before the war started resurrections were were the stories of fantasy. Now it seems to be happening left and right. Decepticon meddling or not you're the same Autobot I remember. Back when you were in the guardian division under Ironhide. Remember me? The trainee? And I think we all heard the way Ironhide and Bumblebee talk about Arcee."

Chromia regarded him for a long moment. "I- do remember things." She nodded with a twisting of metal faceplates to resemble a smile. "You and your brother are hard to forget." For a moment, a disturbed sadness ached its way into Sideswipe's facial features. "I'm sorry." Chromia drifted away and changed the subject. "Arcee gets so riled up when any discussion revolves around her."

Sideswipe shrugged off the memory of his brother the best he could. "Well, I notice how she won't address it. I'll say from what I heard, she hasn't changed a bit either."

Chromia nodded in quiet agreement while they all sunk into reflection. "No I guess she hasn't."

There stood a standstill of awkward silence. The three bots drifted into the throws of each of their own thoughts and memories. It was interrupted by a confused voice.

"So," a human standing close to the force field wall awkwardly broke the silence. "How do robot babies work now?"

There was groaning from the robots' cells.

Jolt was nominated the elective to try and give a reasonable explanation of their non biological reproductive function to the humans. The questions were strewn about from 'how do robots have twins?' which lead to 'how do you have family genealogies without genetics or breeding' to 'you have mental links?' and the nuances of 'so who has mental links if some twins do, and others don't and others with no relation outside of being conceived at the same time can-' which of course brought up robot conception in general and in regards to 'how is robot conception irrelevant to female robots!' or more pressing, 'robot conception! Wtf!' which had to be addressed with 'then why are there female robots!' which somehow eventually was translated to 'so robots do breed? They have sex?' followed with even more confusion of, 'well, which is it, they either do or they don't?'. Three robots looked rather nerve wracked with the conversation at hand. So trying to move past that the further details of just HOW transformers have more transformers Jolt found himself digging even deeper and deeper holes. So in the end he at least gave them the determination that they are not built, like _everyone_ had originally speculated, but the details of just how one goes about birthing a robot, was, to say the least, a little muddy.

In short, the mother-like planet, Cybertron- also known as, or isn't, but is- the planet sized robot god- Primus, _though_ a belief in a god may or may not be applicable, has a special well that contains rare and precious protometal- this well is known as 'The Well of Sparks' or also known as The AllSpark, but it's not really a well on the planet, or a well with rare and precious protometal, it's more like an artifact that has now been destroyed here on Earth, or it hasn't because it's a person now, but- it's not a person, and that person hasn't changed, so the AllSpark can't be used and if the AllSpark or Well of Sparks isn't used then large sums of energy must be used, but not the sun, although the sun does in fact provide energy, it's not the right kind of energy, so energy created from a sun harvester that takes energy from the sun is needed to give sparks that may or may not already exist in the protometal that somehow exist somewhere on the planet Cybertron-_Primus-_not Primus_, _to make protoforms. So the AllSpark gives protometal sparks making them protoforms, but high density energy can be used to make protometal into protoforms, but it doesn't have the ability to create sparks, but the hatchlings still have sparks because sparks are what makes a Transformer otherwise it's just a drone, but drones are built and Transformers aren't built. Then more energy is needed either from the AllSpark, or the sun, which the sun is fine to use this time, but so is the sun from the sun harvester so that those protoforms could be turned into hatchlings. Then the hatchlings spawn and that is how a new robot is born.

Oh . . . and machines with electrical components on Earth that have nothing to do with Cybertron-_Primus-_not Primus at all can spawn robots from use of the AllSpark, but they are utterly devoid of cognitive sentience so technically they aren't Transformers, they're more like drones, but they're not drones because they aren't built.

_Any questions? Any at all? Where did all those crickets come from?_

"I give up." Jolt then scrunched back onto his haunches as his own circuits screamed with static in confusion. The humans looked on dumbfounded, as they should, while Sideswipe and Chromia looked on in sheer disbelief.

"I think what worries me the most is that I understood most of that." Chromia then added after a long and dumb moment.

"I didn't." Sideswipe muttered.

"I didn't either." Jolt added.

"Okay." Was the best a human could come up with. Not really a statement of understanding but it wasn't like they wanted the process explained to them again.

"So," the woman was given the glare of 'oh don't you dare!' by organics and non-organics alike but she continued on anyways, "if you're race is on the verge of dying, and if the AllSpark technically exists, couldn't you use that?"

"First of all," Sideswipe pointed at Jolt to shush his complaints, "what would we do? Drag a human across the galaxy and try and use him as a tool to quell conflict on our mostly dead planet? Dig out his brain and save him the trip? Optimus would never allow him to be used like that."

"Yes, but the Decepticons would." Chromia reminded him. Sideswipe again held out a pointer digit to now silence her.

"Second. We don't even know how much the boy can access it. The general consensus by everyone, including the Decepticons who we know is monitoring him, is not much."

"Which is why I'm curious as to why they would send our delightful host after him."

Jolt cursed under his breath. "Decepticons, why do they have to meddle in everything?"

"Yeah but, aren't they here because you are?"

Sideswipe turned cold. He then paced in front of Jolt's wall to get a better view of the human who dared. "Out of everything we've been through you have the audacity to say that?"

"We are here because of the Decepticons! Not the other way around." Chromia added. Her tone not as biting, but teeth were there.

"If you're so mad, then why did you come back? I mean, you're not gaining anything from it?"

"I wonder myself if it was even worth it." Jolt agreed.

"We live by the sword and die by the sword. That's all there is to it." Chromia muttered flatly.

"What?" Leo weakly perked up. "What about what Sam said? Weren't you guys like looking for a new casa, a new home?"

"Sam is grossly mistaken." Sideswipe grumbled.

"Seriously though. If you're not coming here to hide, or make this your new place to live, why are you here?"

"In short." Sideswipe now had to settle closer to the ground. Though moving did help him regain some of his feeling, he was also starting to become drained. "We're here to finish what they started. I _had_ a place to settle down and try to regain some peace and civility. A Decepticon passed by en route to Earth. -saw our outpost and made a pitstop just to see how many he could slaughter before we caught our wits about us to fight back." He drifted into his self accusatory thoughts again. "I ended up being the only survivor."

"Sideswipe. Don't."

Sides shook his head sourly and continued. "I went after him. Followed him to Earth and yes in a fit of rage I may have- attacked and some of your people got hurt along the way."

"Did'ja get em?"

"No, I didn't. But the Autobots did."

"What about you?" The question was to either of the blue robots. Jolt opted out so Chromia answered.

"To do my duty. I had the choice to go after revenge or to regroup and try and salvage a world before it was too late. I went with the latter."

The humans seemed to grow more alert per their gained understanding.

"You?"

Jolt sheepishly chuckled. "Pass."

"Go ahead Jolt." Sideswipe egged.

"That's okay." Jolt sidestepped.

"Either you do, or I do."

A wall. It cut Jolt's protest off with a fractured vent. "I um. Kind of joined the Decepticon side for a moment. After getting off of that forsaken ion torched planet, I guess I was desperate to be with my own kind again. So when I saw a couple fly by I followed them to Earth. That's about- all I want to say."

"You tell them about how that Decepticon that was here earlier was the one who tried to turn you on us?"

"No." Jolt shifted uncomfortably.

"How about how he beat you savagely and left you crippled so we'd target you while he made his escape?"

"Eh. Not really something I want to talk about."

"Nothing like-"

"Alright, alright, alright! I was just desperate for some social interaction! Had I known then what I know now, I most certainly wouldn't have let them beat me and bully me into submission! Okay?" Sideswipe shrugged. Jolt grated. "Wow."

"What?"

"I'm starting to think we are officially the most emotionally defunct group of Cybertronians to occupy a single space on this planet."

"I wouldn't go that far. You're forgetting the twins."

"I said emotionally, not mentally."

Both Sideswipe and Chromia almost chuckled at that. It would have been in ill humor but it was a lighter mood regardless.

"That was mean." Jolt lightly scolded himself in bad amusement. "Although I think the real winner on the mentally defunct scale would be our captor. It's really interesting listening to him have hour long arguments with himself!"

"And yet you still don't have a clue what he was saying."

"Nope."

"Can I add something?" A human asked sheepishly. "There was a couple times he spoke to us in English. I guess- if you say he has multiple personalities, it makes sense. It sounded like he was trying to help us. We all thought it was a sick joke at the time. But, you that word you said, Auto-"

"Autobot?"

"Yeah. That- personality that was trying to help us, that's what it called itself."

"An Autobot?"

"Yeah."

The three robots shot glances together.

"This keeps getting more and more convoluted the more-"

"Arcee!" Chromia suddenly burst to her wheel startling everyone in the room. Before anyone could question the outburst she screeched in joy. "Arcee! Arcee's awake!"

"The mind link!" Jolt realized!

"Mind link? What does that mean?" One of the humans asked.

"It means we're not going to die here!"


End file.
